j  * 


THE  LIFE 
AND  TIMES 

OF 

AKHNATON 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

A  Report  on  the  Antiquities  of 
Lower  Nubia. 

A  Catalogue  of  the  Weights 
and  Balances  in  the  Cairo 
Museum. 

A  Guide  to  the  Antiquities  of 
Upper  Egypt. 

Travels  in  the  Upper  Egyptian 
Deserts. 

The  Treasury  of  Ancient  Egypt. 

The  Life  and  Times  of  Cleopatra, 
Queen  of  Egypt. 

A  History  of  Egypt  from  1798 
to  1914. 

Madeline  of  the  Desert. 

The  Dweller  in  the  Desert. 

Bedouin  Love. 

etc. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/lifetirnesofakhna00weig_0 


Akhnaton 

From  a  Statuette  in  the  Louvre 

0 See  page  179) 


Statue  of  Tutankhamon  in  the  form 
of  the  God  Khonsu,  now  in  the  Cairo 
Museum. 


Courtesy  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum. 


THE  LIFE 

AND  TIMES  OF 

AKHNATON 

Pharaoh  of  Egypt 


BY’ 

ARTHUR  WEIGALL 


Lat^  Inspector  General  of  Antiquities,  Egyptian  Government, 
and  Member  of  the  Catalogue  Staff  of  the  Cairo  Museum ; 
Officer  of  the  Order  of  the  Medjidieh . 


**  Ye  ask  who  are  those  that  draw  us  to  the  Kingdom  if  the  Kingdom  is  in  Heaven  ? 
The  fowls  of  the  air.  and  all  the  beasts  that  are  under  the  earth  or  upon  the  earth, 
and  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  these  are  they  which  draw  you,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
is  within  you.” 

— Grenfell  and  Hunt:  Oxvrhynchus  Papyri,  iv.  6. 


NEW  AND  REVISED  EDITION 


G.  P.  PUTNAM’S  SONS 
NEW  YORK 
1923 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE . 13 

I.— THE  PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF 


AKHNATON 

• 

1.  INTRODUCTION  .  .  .  .  .  *  1 

2.  THE  ANCESTORS  OF  AKHNATON  ....  5 

3.  THE  GODS  OF  EGYPT  .....  8 

4.  THE  DEMIGODS  AND  SPIRITS THE  PRIESTHOODS  .  .  15 

5.  THUTMOSIS  IV.  AND  MUTEMUA  .  .  .  .17 

6.  YUAA  AND  TUAU  ......  20 

7.  AMENOPHIS  III.  AND  HIS  COURT  ....  28 


II. — THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF 


AKHNATON 

1.  THE  BIRTH  OF  AKHNATON  ....  36 

2.  THE  RISE  OF  ATON  .....  38 

3.  THE  POWER  OF  QUEEN  TIY  ....  42 

4.  AKHNATON'S  MARRIAGES  .....  45 

5.  THE  ACCESSION  OF  AKHNATON  .  .  .  .  50 

6.  THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON’S  REIGN  .  .  53 

7.  THE  NEW  ART  ......  58 

8.  THE  NEW  RELIGION  DEVELOPS  .  .  .  .  67 

9.  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  NEW  RELIGION  ...  73 


III. — AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


1.  THE  BREAK  WITH  THE  PRIESTHOOD  OF  AMON-RA  .  .  77 

2.  AKHNATON  SELECTS  THE  SITE  OF  HIS  CITY  .  .  80 

3.  THE  FIRST  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION  ...  82 

4.  THE  SECOND  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION  ...  87 

5.  THE  DEPARTURE  FROM  THEBES  ....  90 

6.  THE  AGE  OF  AKHNATON  .....  94 

vii 


Vlll 


CONTENTS 


IV.— AKHNATON  FORMULATES  THE  RELIGION 

OF  ATON 

1.  ATON  THE  TRUE  GOD  .... 

2.  ATON  THE  TENDER  FATHER  OF  ALL  CREATION 

3.  ATON  WORSHIPPED  AT  SUNRISE  AND  SUNSET 

4.  THE  GOODNESS  OF  ATON.  .... 

5.  AKHNATON  THE  “  SON  OF  GOD  "  BY  TRADITIONAL  RIGHT 

6.  THE  CONNECTIONS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIP  WITH 

OLDER  RELIGIONS  .... 

7.  THE  SPIRITUAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL  AFTER  DEATH 

8.  THE  MATERIAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL 


V.— THE  TENTH  TO  THE  TWELFTH  YEARS 
OF  THE  REIGN  OF  AKHNATON 

1.  THE  HYMNS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIPPERS  .  .  .129 

2.  THE  SIMILARITY  OF  AKHNATON’S  HYMN  TO  PSALM  CIV.  .  134 


3.  MERYRA  IS  MADE  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  ATON  .  .  .  137 

4.  THE  ROYAL  FAMILY  VISIT  THE  TEMPLE  .  .  .  141 

5.  AKHNATON  IN  HIS  PALACE  ....  145 

6.  HISTORICAL  EVENTS  OF  THIS  PERIOD  OF  AKHNATON’S  REIGN  147 

7.  QUEEN  TIY  VISITS  THE  CITY  OF  THE  HORIZON  .  153 

8.  TIY  VISITS  HER  TEMPLE  .  .  .  .  .158 

9.  THE  DEATH  OF  QUEEN  TIY  .  .  .  .160 


99 

101 

106 

109 

112 

117 

120 

124 


VI.— THE  THIRTEENTH  TO  THE  FIFTEENTH  YEARS 
OF  THE  REIGN  OF  AKHNATON 


1.  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  ATON 

2.  AKHNATON  OBLITERATES  THE  NAME  OF  AMON 

3.  THE  GREAT  TEMPLE  OF  ATON 

4.  THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  CITY 

5.  AKHNATON’S  AFFECTION  FOR  HIS  FAMILY 

6.  AKHNATON’S  FRIENDS 

7.  AKHNATON’S  TROUBLES 


164 

168 

172 

175 

185 

188 

192 


CONTENTS 


IX 


VII.— THE  LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


OF  AKHNATON 

1.  THE  HITTITE  INVASION  OF  SYRIA  .  .  .  .197 

2.  AKHNATON’S  CONSCIENTIOUS  OBJECTIONS  TO  WARFARE  .  200 

3.  THE  FAITHLESSNESS  OF  AZIRU  ....  203 

4.  THE  FIGHTING  IN  SYRIA  BECOMES  GENERAL  .  .  207 

5.  AZIRU  AND  RIBADDI  FIGHT  TO  A  FINISH  .  .  .  210 

6.  AKHNATON  CONTINUES  TO  REFUSE  TO  SEND  HELP  .  214 

7.  AKHNATON’S  HEALTH  GIVES  WAY  ....  217 

8.  AKHNATON’S  LAST  DAYS  AND  DEATH  .  .  .  222 


VIII.— THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


1.  THE  BURIAL  OF  AKHNATON  ....  228 

2.  THE  COURT  RETURNS  TO  THEBES  .  .  .  233 

3  THE  REIGN  OF  HOREMHEB  ....  238 

4.  THE  PERSECUTION  OF  AKHNATON’S  MEMORY  .  .  241 

5.  THE  FINDING  OF  THE  BODY  OF  AKHNATON  .  .  245 

6.  CONCLUSION  ......  250 


INDEX 


253 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


\ 


FACING 

PAGE 


akhnaton.  (From  a  Statuette  in  the  Louvre)  Frontispiece 

THE  HEAD  OF  THE  MUMMY  OF  THUTMOSIS  IV.,  THE  GRAND¬ 
FATHER  OF  AKHNATON  .  .  .  .  .16 

THE  MUMMY  OF  TUAU,  GRANDMOTHER  OF  AKHNATON  .  24 

THE  MUMMY  OF  YUAA,  GRANDFATHER  OF  AKHNATON  .  24 

SITE  OF  THE  PALACE  OF  AKHNATON'S  PARENTS,  AT  THEBES  .  32 

COFFIN  OF  YUAA  ......  40 

CHEST  BELONGING  TO  YUAA  .....  48 

CARVED  WOODEN  CHAIR,  THE  DESIGNS  PARTLY  COVERED 

WITH  GOLD-LEAF  .....  48 

CEILING  DECORATION  FROM  THE  PALACE  OF  AKHNATON'* 

PARENTS  AT  THEBES  .....  56 

PAVEMENT  DECORATION  FROM  THE  PALACE  ...  56 

AMENOPHIS  III.  .....  72 

THE  HEAD  OF  A  STATUETTE  OF  AKHNATON’S  MOTHER  .  72 

THE  HEAD  OF  AKHNATON  .....  80 

THE  ALABASTER  HEAD  OF  AKHNATON  .  .  80 

akhnaton.  (From  a  Relief  found  at  El  Amarna)  .  .  _  136 

akhnaton.  (From  his  Statuette  in  the  Louvre)  .  .  176 

A  PORTRAIT  HEAD  OF  AKHNATON  .  .  .  176 

FRAGMENT  OF  A  HEAD  OF  AKHNATON  .  .  .176 

VASES  OF  VARI-COLOURED  GLASS  FOUND  AT  EL  AMARNA  .  184 

A  SCULPTURED  HEAD  OF  ONE  OF  AKHNATON'S  DAUGHTERS  .  192 

HEAD  OF  ONE  OF  AKHNATON'S  DAUGHTERS  .  .  .  192 

HEAD  OF  A  STATUETTE  .  .  .  .  .216 


XI 


XU 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 

PAGE 

LETTER  FROM  RIBADDI  TO  THE  KING  Ob  EGYPT  .  .  232 

DEATH  MASK  OF  AKHNATON  .....  232 

THE  SKULL  OF  AKHNATON  .....  248 
GOLDEN  VULTURE  FOUND  UPON  AKHNATON’s  MUMMY  .  248 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT 


THUTMOSIS  IV.  SLAYING  ASIATICS  . 

THE  ART  OF  AKHNATON  COMPARED  WITH  ARCHAIC  ART 

AKHNATON  DRIVING  WITH  HIS  WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER  . 

AKHNATON  AND  NEFERTITI  WITH  THEIR  THREE  DAUGHTERS  . 

AN  EXAMPLE  0*  THE  FRIENDLY  RELATIONS  BETWEEN  SYRIA 
AND  EGYPT  ...... 

THE  ARTIST  AUTA  ...... 

AKNHATON  AND  HIS  WIFE  AND  CHILDREN 


PAGE 

21 

64 

113 

144 

165 

179 

186 


PREFACE 


“  The  Life  and  Times  of  Akhnaton  ”  was  first 
published  in  1910,  and  went  through  two  or 
three  editions  ;  but  at  length  it  passed  out  of 
print,  and  the  few  copies  which  remained  in  the 
market  were  sold  at  five  and  six  times  the  book’s 
original  price.  This  continued  demand  has  led 
to  the  present  re-issue,  in  which  the  material 
has  been  brought  up-to-date  and  considerable 
additions  have  been  made,  though  it  has  been 
thought  best  to  leave  the  text  on  the  whole  in 
its  original  form. 

Great  excavations  are  now  being  conducted 
by  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society  upon  the 
site  of  Akhnaton’ s  sacred  city  ;  and  so  important 
is  this  work,  and  so  widely  should  its  aims  be 
known,  that  on  this  account  also  the  re-publica¬ 
tion  of  this  volume  may  serve  a  useful  purpose. 
Those  who  chance  to  have  their  interest  aroused 
by  it  should  communicate  with  the  Secretary 
of  the  Society,  13,  Tavistock  Square,  London, 
W.C.  1,  who  will  be  glad  to  supply  information 
as  to  these  excavations.  Funds  are  urgently 
needed  for  the  extension  of  the  work ;  and, 
as  the  reader  will  realise  from  the  following 
pages,  there  is  probably  no  period  in  ancient 
history  which  so  merits  elucidation,  and  no  site 
which  will  so  well  repay  excavation. 


XXII 


xiv 


PREFACE 


When  this  book  was  first  prepared  for  the 
press  I  was  alone  in  my  belief  that  Akhnaton 
was  only  thirty  years  of  age  at  his  death,  and 
my  contention  that  the  then  recently  discovered 
mummy  of  a  young  man  of  that  age  was  this 
Pharaoh  himself  was  greatly  ridiculed.  Time, 
however,  has  shown  the  correctness  of  my  asser¬ 
tion,  and  the  identification,  as  well  as  the  course 
and  duration  of  the  king's  life  as  given  in  the 
present  volume,  are  now  generally  admitted, 
except  by  the  well-known  German  scholar,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Kurt  Sethe  of  Gottingen,  who,  at  the 
time  of  wilting  (1922)  still  finds  himself  in  doubt. 

Although  the  lay  reader  will  not,  perhaps, 
be  interested,  I  think  it  will  be  as  well  to  state 
here  in  brief  outline  my  general  argument  for 
the  identification  of  the  mummy  and  the  age 
of  Akhnaton  at  his  death ;  and  I  may  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  preface  my  statement  by  a  few  words 
in  regard  to  the  excavations  which  led,  in  1907, 
to  the  discovery. 

The  Tomb  of  Queen  Tiy,  in  which  lay  the 
mummy  believed  to  be  that  of  Akhnaton,  was 
discovered  in  January,  1907,  during  the  excava¬ 
tions  which  were  being  conducted  by  Mr. 
Theodore  M.  Davis  in  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs 
of  the  Kings  at  Thebes.  Mr.  Davis  was  a  veiy 
charming  American  gentleman,  who,  in  his  old 
age,  used  to  spend  his  winters  on  a  dahabiyeh 


PREFACE 


XV 


at  Luxor,  and  there  became  interested  in 
Egyptology.  In  1902  he  gave  a  small  sum  of 
money  to  Mr.  Howard  Carter,  then  Inspector- 
General  of  the  Antiquities  of  Upper  Egypt,  in 
order  to  enable  him  to  conduct  some  excavations 
in  the  royal  necropolis,  and  in  1903  the  Tomb 
of  Thutmose  IV  was  discovered  during  the  work 
carried  out  with  this  money.  In  the  same  year 
the  Tomb  of  Queen  Hatshepsut  was  cleared  out 
by  Mr.  Carter,  again  at  Mr.  Davis’s  expense ; 
and  thus  the  latter  became  established,  so  to 
speak,  as  the  banker  behind  the  Egyptian 
Government’s  excavations  in  the  Famous  Valley. 

In  1904  Mr.  Quibell  took  Mr.  Carter’s  place 
at  Luxor,  and  continued  these  excavations ; 
and  in  1905  I  was  appointed  Inspector-General, 
Mr.  Quibell  and  I  jointly  working  the  famous 
Tomb  of  Yuaa  and  Tuau  early  in  that  year. 
At  that  time  Mr.  Davis  was  paying  for  the 
actual  excavations,  but  we,  the  Egyptian  Govern¬ 
ment  Department  of  Antiquities,  bore  ail  the 
other  expenses,  such  as  those  of  packing  the 
antiquities,  safeguarding  the  finds,  and  so  forth. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  total  cost  to 
Mr.  Davis  of  the  season’s  work  which  thus  pro¬ 
duced  one  of  the  greatest  finds  ever  made  in 
Egypt  was  about  £80. 

In  1906  I  insisted  that  Mr.  Davis  should  em¬ 
ploy  a  proper  archaeologist  to  conduct  the  work 


xvi 


PREFACE 


under  my  supervision,  and  Mr.  Edward  R. 
Ayrton  was  nominated.  From  that  time  on¬ 
wards  for  the  next  few  years  these  excavations 
were  carried  on  in  the  following  manner : — 
Mr.  Davis  paid  for  the  actual  excavations  and 
was  regarded  as  their  nominal  director ;  an 
archaeologist,  paid  by  him,  lived  on  the  spot, 
and  conducted  the  work ;  I  supervised  it  on 
behalf  of  the  Government  and  officially  took 
charge  whenever  any  discovery  was  made ;  the 
antiquities  found  all  went  to  the  Cairo  Museum, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  objects  given  as 
souvenirs  to  Mr.  Davis  and  now  in  the  Metro¬ 
politan  Museum  of  New  York,  U.S.A. ;  the 
Government  bore  all  working  costs  other  than 
those  of  the  excavations  themselves ;  Mr.  Davis 
paid  for  the  publication  of  the  annual  volume ; 
and  we  all  united  to  give  him  the  credit  of  the 
discoveries,  the  work  being  deemed  worthy  of 
every  encouragement,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
its  promoter  was  himself  an  amateur,  and  that 
the  greatest  tact  had  to  be  used  in  order  to 
impose  proper  supervision  on  his  work. 

The  work  was  being  conducted  in  this  manner 
when  the  Tomb  of  Queen  Tiy  was  found.  Mr. 
Ayrton  was  in  charge,  and  officially  handed 
over  to  me  as  soon  as  the  discovery  was  made ; 
but,  for  diplomatic  reasons,  I  kept  in  the  back¬ 
ground,  and  to  a  great  extent  left  the  clearing 


PREFACE  XVii 

of  the  tomb  in  his  efficient  hands,  only  keeping 
an  eye  on  the  work.  When  Mr.  Davis  pub¬ 
lished  the  results,  he  incorporated  a  short  note 
by  Mr.  Ayrton,  but  preserved  a  strict  silence 
in  regard  to  my  own  part  in  the  work  ;  and 
I  should  like  to  explain  that  this  was  not  in  any 
way  an  ungenerous  or  unfriendly  act,  but  was 
due  to  his  very  understandable  objection  to 
the  restrictions  which  my  Department  rightly 
obliged  me  to  impose  upon  him. 

Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Ayrton  are  now  dead,  and 
Mr.  Harold  Jones,  who  helped  in  the  work,  has 
also  passed  away.  I  am,  therefore,  the  only 
surviving  member  of  this  little  company  of 
excavators,  and  the  above  explanation  is  neces¬ 
sary  in  order  to  make  clear  my  own  standing 
in  regard  to  these  excavations,  and  to  give 
authority  to  the  statements  which  I  shall  make. 

In  this  preface  I  want  to  show  that  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  mummy  found  in  the 
Tomb  of  Queen  Tiy  was  that  of  Akhnaton  ;  and 
it  will  therefore  be  best  to  begin  by  deciding, 
from  the  monuments  and  other  historical  evi¬ 
dence,  the  age  at  which  this  king  died.  The 
following  arguments  may  be  adduced  : — 

1.  Akhnaton  was  married  to  Nefertiti  either 
before  or  soon  after  his  accession  to  the  throne. 
On  the  boundary  stelae  at  El  Amama,  dated 
in  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign  he  was  already 


B 


xviii 


PREFACE 


the  father  of  two  daughters  by  her.  What, 
then,  is  the  likely  age  at  which  he  would  have 
become  a  father  ?  The  mummy  of  Thutmose  IV, 
his  grandfather,  has  been  shown  by  Professor 
Elliot  Smith  to  be  that  of  a  man  of  not  more 
than  twenty-six  years  of  age.  That  king  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Amenophis  III,  who  is 
known  to  have  been  married  to  Queen  Tiy 
before  the  second  year  of  his  reign.  Thus  both 
Thutmose  IV  and  Amenophis  III  must  have 
been  married  by  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age. 
Amenophis  III  was,  according  to  the  examina¬ 
tion  of  his  mummy  by  Elliot  Smith,  about 
forty-five  or  fifty  at  his  death  ;  and,  as  he  reigned 
thirty-six  years,  he  could  have  been  at  most 
fourteen  at  his  marriage.  Akhnaton’s  daughter, 
Merytaton,  born  in  the  third  or  fourth  year  of 
his  reign  was  married  to  Smenkhkara  before 
the  seventeenth  year  of  the  reign,  i.e.t  at  thir- 
">/teen  or  fourteen.  The  Princess  Ankhsenpaaton, 
born  about  the  eighth  year  of  the  reign  was 
married  at  latest  two  years  after  Akhnaton's 
death,  i.e .,  when  she  was  eleven ;  and  the 
/  younger  princess,  Neferneferuaton,  was  married 
to  the  King  of  Babylon’s  son  when  she  was 
probably  not  more  than  five  or  six. 

Child-marriages  such  as  these  are  common 
in  Egypt  even  at  the  present  day  ;  and  if  Akh- 
naton  was,  in  this  regard,  like  his  father  and 


PREFACE 


XIX 


grandfather  it  may  be  assumed  that  he  was 
certainly  not  older  than  fourteen  when  his  first 
child  was  born.  This  would  make  him  some¬ 
where  round  about  thirty  at  his  death. 

2.  In  the  biography  of  Bakenkhonsu,  High 
Priest  of  Amen  under  Rameses  II,  we  are  told 
that  he  came  of  age  at  sixteen.  Now  Akhnaton 
was  under  the  regency  of  his  mother  during  the 
first  years  of  his  reign,  as  the  Tell  El  Amarna 
letters  and  the  Wady  Harnmarnat  inscription 
prove  ;  and  one  may  thus  assume  that  he  was 
then  under  age.  If,  as  seems  probable,  the 
great  changes  in  art  and  religion  began  when 
he  came  of  age,  say  in  the  third  or  fourth  year 
of  his  reign  (and  the  King  speaks  of  the  fourth 
year  in  this  connection  in  the  foundation  inscrip¬ 
tion)  he  would  be  just  about  thirty  at  his  death. 
In  this  regard  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the 
Caliph  El  Hakkim  was  sixteen  when  he  issued 
his  first  religious  decrees. 

3.  When  Yuaa  and  Ttiau  were  buried,  prob¬ 
ably  quite  late  in  the  reign  of  Amenophis  III, 
since  both  were  of  an  advanced  age  according 
to  Professor  Elliot  Smith,  that  King,  and  Queen 
Tiy,  and  two  of  their  daughters  gave  presents 
of  funeral  furniture,  but  there  is  no  mention 
yet  of  a  son.  Nor  have  we  any  evidence  of 
Akhnaton’s  existence  until  late  in  the  reign 
when  his  marriage  to  Tadukhipa  of  Mitanni 


XX 


PREFACE 


was  arranged.  On  the  Medinet  Habu  colossus 
three  of  Tiy’s  daughters  are  shown,  but  there 
is  no  reference  yet  to  a  son.  We  should  surely 
have  some  mention  of  him  had  he  been  living 
during  the  main  years  of  his  father’s  reign  ;  and 
the  inference  thus  is  that  he  was  still  Very  young 
at  his  father’s  death. 

4.  Amenophis  III  seems  to  have  been  in 
iU-health  during  the  last  years  of  his  reign,  for 
on  two  occasions  the  King  of  Mitanni  sent  a 
miracle-working  statuette  of  the  goddess  Ishtar 
to  him  in  the  hope  that  it  might  cure  him.  And 
there  is  the  curious  fact  that  Manetho  gives 
only  thirty  years  for  his  reign,  whereas  there 
is  contemporary  evidence  that  he  reigned  for 
thirty-six,  the  explanation  being,  probably,  that 
he  was  unfit  to  govern  during  the  last  six  years 
of  his  reign.  Yet  his  son  did  not  assume  office, 
and  the  power  evidently  remained  in  the  hands 
of  Queen  Tiy.  Akhnaton,  therefore,  must  have 
still  been  very  young  ;  and  even  when  he  came 
to  the  throne  the  Tell  El  Amarna  letters  show 
that  his  mother  had  still  to  be  consulted  in 
affairs  of  state.  On  the  other  hand  a  letter  from 
Dushratta,  docketed  in  the  thirty-sixth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Amenophis  III,  refers  to  Tadu- 
khipa  as  being  already  married  to  Aknation, 
which  indicates  that  the  boy  was  twelve  or 
thirteen  by  then.  This  would  make  his  age 


PREFACE 


xxi 


at  his  death,  seventeen  years  later,  just  about 
thirty. 

In  view  of  the  above  arguments  I  do  not  see 
that  it  is  possible  to  suppose  that  Akhnaton 
was  more  than  thirty  years  of  age  at  his  death. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  at  Oxford  a  frag- 
ment  which  shows  the  King  celebrating  his 
heb-sed,  or  Jubilee,  and  which,  therefore,  at 
first  sight  indicates  that  he  was  much  older. 
I  do  not  think,  however,  that  anything  definite 
can  be  deduced  from  the  occurrence  of  this 
festival.  The  heb-sed  festival  was  generally 
thought  to  have  been  held  after  a  king  had 
reigned  thirty  years  ;  but  Professor  Sethe  has 
shown  that  it  was  more  probably  a  festival  held 
thirty  years  after  a  king  had  become  heir  to 
the  throne.  Now  Akhnaton  was  heir  immedi¬ 
ately  on  his  birth,  and,  if  Sethe  is  right,  the 
celebration  of  the  jubilee  would  thus  only  indi¬ 
cate  that  he  was  at  least  thirty  years  of  age  at 
his  death,  a  fact  which  is  in  accord  with  the 
above  arguments.  There  is  nothing  on  the 
Oxford  fragment1  to  indicate  the  date  at  which 
this  jubilee  occurred,  but  the  fact  that  a  "  High 
Priest  of  Akhnaton  ”  is  mentioned  thereon  sug¬ 
gests  that  it  belongs  to  the  last  years  of  the 
reign,  since  this  looks  like  a  late  and  advanced 
development  of  the  Aton  religion.  Edward 

i  Prof.  Sethe  is  wrong  in  thinking  that  the  cartouches  on  this  frag¬ 
ment  show  signs  of  the  earlier  spelling. 


XX1.1 


PREFACE 


Meyer,  however,  has  pointed  out  that  Thutmose 
II,  whose  mummy  shows  him  to  have  died  before 
he  was  thirty,  seems  to  have  celebrated  his 
jubilee  twice.  Akhnaton  may  thus  have  held 
this  festival  at  an  equally  early  date. 

The  mummy  which  we  found  in  the  tomb 
of  Queen  Tiy,  and  which  rested  in  a  coffin  un¬ 
doubtedly  belonging  to  Akhnaton,  was  sent  by 
me  to  Professor  Elliot  Smith  in  Cairo  for  exam¬ 
ination.  I  may  mention,  in  order  to  debar  any 
possible  suggestion  of  confusion  or  mistake  in 
regard  to  the  body,  that  I  soaked  the  bones 
in  paraffin  wax  so  as  to  preserve  them,  and  that 
the  bones  examined  by  Elliot  Smith  were  thus 
distinguished.  His  report  on  them  wras  pub¬ 
lished  in  his  catalogue  of  the  royal  mummies 
in  the  Cairo  Museum. 

In  regard  to  the  age,  after  an  exhaustive 
examination  of  the  condition  of  the  skeleton, 
he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  although  many 
of  the  data  suggest  an  age  of  about  twenty-six 
years,  “  no  anatomist  would  be  justified  in 
refusing  to  admit  that  this  individual  may  have 
been  several  years  younger  or  older  than  this 
estimate  ;  and  he  goes  on  to  say  that  if  the 
historian  can  produce  proofs  to  show  that 
Akhnaton  was  as  old  as  thirty  at  his  death, 
the  anatomical  evidence  which  suggests  an 
earlier  age  would  have  to  be  considered  too 


PREFACE 


xxiii 


slight  to  weigh  against  that  conclusion.  Thus, 
so  far  as  the  age  of  the  body  is  concerned,  the 
mummy  may  be  regarded  as  fulfilling  the  con¬ 
ditions  necessary  for  its  identification  with 
Akhnaton. 

As  to  the  physical  features,  the  following 
facts  from  the  report  are  important.  (1)  The 
configuration  of  the  upper  part  of  the  face, 
including  the  forehead,  is  identical  with  that 
of  Akhnaton’s  maternal  grandfather,  Yuaa. 
(2)  The  jaw  is  typically  Armenoid,  as  might 
be  expected  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Akhnaton’ s 
paternal  grandmother  was  Mutemua,  a  princess 
of  Mitanni.  (3)  The  projection  of  the  upper 
incisors  is  similar  to  that  found  in  many  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  royal  family  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty.  (4)  A  curious  and  unusual  bony 
ridge  passing  from  the  nasal  spine  to  the  alveolar 
point  in  this  skull  occurs  also  as  a  peculiarity 
of  the  skull  of  Amenophis  III.  (5)  There  are 
points  of  resemblance  to  Amenophis  III,  also, 
in  the  molar  teeth.  (6)  The  general  structure 
of  the  face,  and  especially  the  jaw,  is  exactly 
that  portrayed  in  the  statues  of  Akhnaton. 

These  physical  features  prove  pretty  con¬ 
clusively  that  the  mummy  is  that  of  a  male 
member  of  the  royal  family,  who  had  in  his 
veins  the  blood  both  of  Yuaa  and  Amenophis 
III,  and  the  objects  found  with  it  prove  that 


xxiv 


PREFACE 


it  is  to  be  dated  to  the  period  of  Akhnaton. 
Thus  the  body,  so  far  as  the  known  historical 
facts  go,  could  only  be  that  of  Akhnaton.  There 
is  nobody  else  whom  it  could  be,  and  this  is 
a  negative  argument  which  must  be  given  prom¬ 
inence  throughout. 

As  to  the  evidence  of  the  coffin  and  other 
objects  found  with  the  body.  The  coffin,  now 
exhibited  in  the  Cairo  Museum,  is  that  of  Akh¬ 
naton  without  any  question,  for  it  is  inscribed 
with  his  name  and  titles,  on  the  top  of  the  lid, 
inside  the  lid,  and  inside  the  shell.  But  there 
is  one  fact  which,  by  some  most  mysterious 
circumstance,  has  been  obscured.  A  great  deal 
of  rain-water  had  dripped  into  the  tomb  through 
a  fissure  in  the  rock,  and  the  mummy — flesh 
and  bandages— -had  rotted  away.  But  when  we 
removed  the  lid  of  the  coffin,  we  found  a  band 
or  ribbon  of  thin  gold  foil  which  had  evidently 
passed  down  the  front  of  the  mummy,  outside 
the  wrappings,  and,  at  right  angles  to  this,  other 
bands  which  had  passed  round  the  body.  When 
we  had  gathered  up  the  bones  and  fragments 
and  dust  we  found  another  similar  band  which 
had  evidently  passed  down  the  back  of  the 
mummy.  These  bands  were  about  two  inches 
wide  and  were  inscribed  with  the  titles  of  Akh¬ 
naton,  but  the  cartouche  was  in  each  case  cut 
out,  so  that  there  was  simply  an  oval  hole  in 


PREFACE 


XXV 


the  band  wherever  it  occurred.  The  cartouches 
of  Akhnaton,  it  is  to  be  noted  in  this  connection, 
were  likewise  erased  in  the  coffin-inscription. 

I  must  now  give  a  brief  description  of  the 
tomb  and  such  of  its  contents  as  are  pertinent, 
which  should  be  read  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Davis's  and  Mr.  Ayrton's  account  of  the  dis¬ 
covery  published  in  the  former's  big  volume. 

The  tomb  was  a  rock-cut  chamber  approached 
by  a  sloping  passage.  It  was  similar  to  the 
tomb  of  Yuaa  and  Tuau,  and  was  thus  the  sort 
of  sepulchre  one  might  expect  to  be  made  for 
a  queen  or  other  royal  personage  who  was  not 
actually  a  reigning  sovereign.  In  it  were  the 
remains  of  a  large  box-like  wooden  shrine  or 
canopy  which  had  evidently  contained  a  coffin 
and  mummy.  The  inscriptions  leave  no  doubt 
that  this  was  made  for  Queen  Tiy's  burial  by 
Akhnaton,  and  four  foundation  bricks  are  also 
inscribed  with  Akhnaton's  name.  A  number 
of  small  objects  inscribed  with  the  Queen's  name 
also  belonged  to  this  the  original  burial  in  the 
tomb.  The  sides  of  the  shrine  or  canopy  had 
been  taken  to  pieces,  and  one  side  lay  in  the 
passage,  as  though  an  attempt  had  been  made 
to  remove  it  at  the  same  time  that  the  mummy 
of  the  queen  was  removed,  but  that  the  work 
had  been  abandoned  owing  to  the  narrowness 
of  the  passage. 


xx  vi 


PREFACE 


Thus  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that 
the  tomb  was  made  for  Queen  Tiy,  and  that 
her  body  was  removed  at  a  later  date,  the  large 
shrine  or  canopy  being  left  behind  because  of 
the  difficulty  of  taking  it  out,  and  some  of  the 
small  objects  being  overlooked. 

But  in  another  part  of  the  chamber  we  found 
the  coffin  of  Akhnaton.  Originally  it  had  lain 
upon  a  bier,  but  this  had  rotted  away  and  col¬ 
lapsed,  and  in  the  fall  the  mummy  had  been 
jerked  partly  out  of  the  coffin,  so  that  the  head 
of  the  body  projected  somewhat  from  under  the 
lid.  Photographs  of  it  as  we  found  it  are  pub¬ 
lished  in  Mr.  Davis's  volume.  Near  the  coffin 
were  four  canopic  vases  winch  will  be  discussed 
later. 

Scattered  about  in  the  rubbish  were  fragments 
of  small  clay  sealings  inscribed  with  the  name 
of  King  Tutankhamen.  The  entrance  of  the 
tomb  showed  the  remains  of  at  least  two  closings 
up.  There  was  part  of  an  original  wall  of  rough 
limestone  blocks  cemented  on  the  outside,  and 
above  the  ruins  of  this  there  was  a  second  and 
more  loosely  constructed  wall.  On  fragments 
of  the  cement  were  impressions  of  a  seal  repre¬ 
senting  a  jackal  crouching  over  nine  captives— 
the  usual  seal  of  the  necropolis.  The  second 
wall  had  been  partly  pulled  down  and  had  not 
been  built  up  again. 


PREFACE 


xxvii 


I  interpret  the  above  facts  in  the  following 
manner Firstly,  Queen  Tiy  wa ;  buried  in 
this  tomb,  but  it  was  entered  later  by  the  agents 
of  Akhnaton  whose  orders  were  to  erase  the 
name  of  Amen  wheresoever  it  was  to  be  found. 
After  Akhnaton  had  died  and  had  been  buried 
at  El  Amarna,  the  court  returned  to  Thebes 
under  King  Tutankhamen.  The  body  of  Akh¬ 
naton  was  then  brought  to  the  old  necropolis 
of  his  fathers  and  was  placed  in  this  tomb  of 
his  mother.  A  few  years  later  when  his  memory 
came  to  be  hated,  the  priests  removed  the 
mummy  of  Tiy  from  the  tomb  which  had  been 
polluted  by  the  presence  of  “  that  criminal/’ 
as  Akhnaton  was  now  called,  erased  the  king’s 
name,  and  left  him  the  solitary  and  nameless 
occupant  of  the  sepulchre. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  four  canopic 
jars.  These  obviously  do  not  belong  to  Queen 
Tiy ;  for  the  men  who  removed  the  queen’s 
mummy  from  the  tomb  would  not  have  left 
her  heart,  viscera,  etc.  behind.  By  the  same 
token  the  jars  belong  to  the  mummy  which  we 
found  in  the  tomb.  The  contents  of  the  jars 
have  rotted  away,  as  had  the  flesh  on  the 
mummy,  owing  to  the  damp.  Only  such  frag¬ 
ments  of  their  wrappings  as  were  well  covered 
with  bitumen  are  now  to  be  found  in  the  jars. 
(See  Daressy  on  p.  24  of  Mr.  Davis’s  volume). 


xxviii 


PREFACE 


On  each  jar  there  has  been  an  inscription,  pre¬ 
sumably  giving  the  owner's  name  ;  but  in  each 
case  this  has  been  entirely  erased.  The  lids  of 
the  jars  are  each  carved  in  the  form  of  a  royal 
head,  wearing  an  ordinary  wig  which  might 
be  either  that  of  a  male  or  female,  but  having 
a  king’s  single  uraeus  on  the  forehead.  The 
queens  of  this  period  have  a  double  uraeus,  as 
may  be  seen,  for  instance,  on  the  Sinai  head 
of  Tiy,  on  the  Userhat  relief  of  that  queen  at 
Brussels,  on  her  Medinet  Habu  colossus  now 
at  Cairo,  on  the  Fayum  head  of  this  period  now 
in  Berlin,  on  various  reliefs  of  Nefertiti,  notably 
that  shown  in  Petrie’s  History,  ii,  p.  230,  and 
so  forth.  The  fact  that  these  canopic  heads 
have  no  beard  does  not  suggest  that  they  are 
female,  for  I  do  not  think  Akhnaton  is  ever 
shown  with  a  beard.  The  heads  might  well  be 
portraits  of  Akhnaton  executed  somewhat  early 
in  the  reign,  and  the  characteristic  lower  jaw 
is  quite  noticeable  in  at  least  one  of  the  four, 
as  Daressy  also  has  pointed  out. 

I  think  the  reasoning  should  follow  these 
lines  : — The  canopies  are  not  those  of  Tiy,  for 
if  they  were  they  would  have  been  removed 
with  her  mummy,  being  an  essential  part  of  the 
mummy ;  and  moreover  there  would  have  been 
a  double  uraeus  on  the  forehead.  But  if  they 
do  not  belong  to  a  queen  they  must  certainly 


PREFACE 


XXIX 


belong  to  a  king,  and  what  king  other  than 
Akhnaton  could  they  possibly  represent  ? 
Canopic  jars,  however,  would  never  be  inten¬ 
tionally  separated  from  the  mummy  whose 
heart,  etc.  they  contained ;  and  thus,  if  the 
jars  are  those  of  Akhnaton  then  the  presumption 
is  that  the  mummy  must  be  that  of  Akhnaton 
also. 

The  fact  that  these  canopic  jars  seem,  by  the 
style  of  the  portraiture,  to  date  from  several 
years  before  Akhnaton’ s  death  is  interesting, 
as  suggesting  that  he  had  caused  his  funeral 
outfit  to  be  made  ready  for  him  in  anticipation. 
There  are  two  other  facts  which  lead  to  the 
same  conclusion.  Firstly,  in  the  inlaid  inscrip¬ 
tion  which  runs  down  the  front  of  his  coffin  the 
word  “  truth  ”  is  written  with  the  sign  of  the 
goddess,  a  sign  which  was  not  used  in  the  late 
years  of  the  reign.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
inscriptions  on  the  foot  of  the  coffin,  and  on  the 
inside  of  the  lid  and  shell,  show  this  word  spelt 
out  in  the  later  manner.  Thus,  we  may  suppose 
that  the  coffin  was  begun,  though  not  finished, 
early  in  the  reign.  That  it  was  finished  later 
is  also  shown  by  the  appearance  of  the  later 
form  of  the  cartouche  of  the  god  Aton  on  the 
uraeus  at  the  forehead  of  the  effigy  on  the  lid. 
Secondly,  amongst  the  debris  of  the  mummy 
a  necklace  ornament  and  a  piece  of  gold  foil 


XXX 


PREFACE 


were  found,  each  inscribed  with  the  earlier  form 
of  this  Aton  cartouche.  This  shows  that  some 
parts,  if  not  all,  of  the  burial  equipment  were 
prepared  several  years  before  they  were  actually 
required.  Such  a  procedure,  however,  is  not 
surprising.  A  Pharaoh  always  caused  his  tomb 
to  be  prepared  during  his  reign,  and  it  is  to  be 
presumed,  therefore,  that  the  coffin  and  funeral 
outfit  were  also  made  ready  at  the  same  time. 
And,  indeed,  it  may  be  argued  that  these  proofs 
of  the  early  date  of  the  coffin  and  mummy 
ornaments  explain  why  the  heads  of  the  canopic 
jars  show  a  rounder,  younger,  and  less  peculiar 
face  than  is  seen  in  the  later  portraits  of  Akh- 
naton  ;  and  thus  the  identification  is  strengthened. 

Over  the  face  or  head  of  the  mummy  we 
found  an  object  in  the  form  of  a  vulture,  made 
of  gold,  and  slightly  curved  so  as  to  fit  over  the 
bandages.  Mr.  Davis  and  M.  Daressy  call  it 
a  queen's  crown,  and  M.  Maspero  caused  it  to 
be  labelled  as  such  in  the  Cairo  Museum.  It 
is,  however,  no  crown  ;  a  conclusion  which  is 
apparent  from  the  fact  that  it  was  found  with 
the  tail  and  not  the  head  projecting  over  the 
forehead.  It  is  simply  a  sort  of  pectoral  of  the 
usual  form  seen  in  the  wall-paintings  in  the 
Theban  tombs  (for  example,  that  of  Horemheb, 
No.  78)  as  part  of  a  mummy’s  equipment. 

To  sum  up  : — The  mummy  lay  in  the  coffin 


PREFACE 


XXXI 


of  Akhnaton,  was  enclosed  in  bands  inscribed 
with  Akhnaton’ s  name  and  was  accompanied 
by  the  canopic  jars  of  Akhnaton.  It  was  that 
of  a  man  of  Akhnaton’ s  age,  the  facial  structure 
corresponds  to  the  portraits  of  Akhnaton,  and 
it  has  physical  characteristics  similar  to  those 
of  Akhnaton’s  father  and  grandfather.  How, 
then,  can  one  possibly  doubt  its  identity  ?  Pro¬ 
fessor  Sethe,  however,  published  in  the  Nach- 
richten  der  K.  Gesellschaft  der  Wissenschaften 
zu  Gottingen  in  1921  an  article  in  which  he 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the  mummy  we 
found  was  perhaps  not  that  of  Akhnaton  ;  but 
it  is  evident  that  all  the  facts  were  not  marshalled 
before  him  when  he  set  himself  to  question  an 
identification  which  surely  is  not  ooen  to  doubt. 

ARTHUR  WEIGALL. 


London,  June,  1922. 


I 

THE  PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS 

OF  AKHNATON 


i.  INTRODUCTION 

The  reign  of  Akhnaton,1  for  seventeen  years 
Pharaoh  of  Egypt  (from  b.c.  1375  to  1358),  X 
stands  out  as  the  most  interesting  epoch  in  the 
long  sequence  of  Egyptian  history.  We  have 
watched  the  endless  line  of  dim  Pharaohs  go  by, 
each  lit  momentarily  by  the  pale  lamp  of  our 
present  knowledge,  and  most  of  them  have  left 
little  impression  upon  the  mind.  They  are  so 
misty  and  far  off,  they  have  been  dead  and  gone 
for  such  thousands  of  years,  that  they  have 
almost  entirely  lost  their  individuality.  We  call 
out  some  royal  name,  and  in  response  a  vague 
figure  passes  info  view,  stiffly  moves  its  arms, 
and  passes  again  into  the  darkness.  With  one 
there  comes  the  muffled  noise  of  battle ;  with 

*  Some  philologists,  preferring  to  give  the  value  “  I "  to  the  initial 
letter  of  the  name,  call  the  King  “  Ikhnaton  "  instead  of  “  Akhnaton." 

The  reading  "  Khuenaten,"  sometimes  found  in  earlier  works,  is 
incorrect. 


c 


2 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


another  there  is  laughter  and  the  sound  of  music  ; 
with  yet  another  the  wailing  of  the  oppressed 
drifts  by.  But  at  the  name  of  Akhnaton  there 
emerges  from  the  darkness  a  figure  more  clear 
than  that  of  any  other  Pharaoh,  and  with  it 
there  come  the  singing  of  birds,  the  voices  of 
children,  and  the  scent  of  many  flowers.  For 
once  we  may  look  right  into  the  mind  of  a  king 
of  Egypt  and  may  see  something  of  its  work¬ 
ings  ;  and  all  that  is  there  observed  is  worthy 
©f  admiration.  Akhnaton  has  been  called  “  the 
first  individual  in  human  history  ” but  if  he  is 
thus  the  first  historical  figure  whose  personality 
is  known  to  us,  he  is  also  the  first  of  all  human 
founders  of  religious  doctrines.  Akhnaton  may 
be  ranked  in  degree  of  time,  and,  in  view  of  the 
new  ground  broken  by  him,  perhaps  also  in 
degree  of  genius,  as  the  world's  first  idealist ; 
and,  since  in  all  ancient  Oriental  research  there 
never  has  been,  and  probably  never  will  be, 
brought  before  us  a  subject  of  such  intellectual 
interest  as  this  Pharaoh’s  religious  revolution, 
which  marks  the  first  point  in  the  study  of  ad¬ 
vanced  human  thought,  a  careful  consideration 
of  this  short  reign  deserves  to  be  made. 

The  following  pages  do  not  pretend  to  do  more 
than  acquaint  the  reader  with  the  subject,  as 
interpreted  in  the  light  of  recent  discoveries. 

*  Breasted  :  A  History  of  Egypt. 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


A  series  of  volumes  have  been  issued  by  the 
Egypt  Exploration  Fund,1  in  which  accurate 
copies  are  to  be  found  of  the  reliefs,  paintings, 
and  inscriptions  upon  the  walls  of  the  tombs  of 
some  of  Akhnaton’s  disciples  and  followers.  In 
the  year  1893  Professor  Flinders  Petrie  excavated 
the  site  of  the  city  which  the  Pharaoh  founded, 
and  published  the  results  of  his  work  in  a  volume 
entitled  “Tel  el  Amama”.2 

Shortly  before  the  late  war  the  Germans  made 
some  valuable  excavations  in  Akhnaton’s  city, 
and  discovered  amongst  other  things  the  studio 
of  a  sculptor  in  which  several  great  works  of 
art,  row  in  Berlin,  were  found ;  and  soon  after 
the  war  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society  began  its 
work  on  the  site,  which,  year  by  year,  is  revealing 
the  marvels  of  that  amazing  epoch  in  Egyptian 
history. 

In  1906  Professor  J.  H.  Breasted  devoted  some 
space  to  a  masterly  study  of  this  period  in  his 
"  History  of  Egypt  ”  and  "  Ancient  Records  of 
Egypt.”3  From  these  publications,  and  from 
the  Journals  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society, 
the  reader  will  be  able  to  refer  himself  to  the 
remaining  literature  dealing  with  the  subject  ; 

*  N.  de  G.  Davies  :  The  Rock  Tombs  of  El  Amarna.  5  vols.  The 
Egypt  Exploration  Fund  is  the  earlier  name  of  the  Egypt  Exploration 
Society. 

a  Now  out  of  print. 

3  Published  by  the  Chicago  University. 


4 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


but  he  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  discovery1 
of  the  bones  of  Akhnaton  himself,  which  have 
shown  us  how  old  he  was  when  he  died — namely, 
about  thirty  years  of  age — have  modified  many 
of  the  deductions  in  the  earlier  works.  Those 
who  have  travelled  in  Egypt  will  probably  have 
J  visited  the  site  of  Akhnaton’s  city,  near  the 
modern  village  of  El  Amarna  ;  and  in  the  mu¬ 
seums  of  Cairo,  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna, 
Leiden,  and  elsewhere,  they  will  perhaps  have 
seen  some  of  the  relics  of  his  age. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  present  century 
an  extraordinary  series  of  discoveries  was  made 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  Thebes. 
In  1903  the  tomb  of  Thutmosis  IV,  the  paternal 
grandfather  of  Akhnaton,  was  discovered ;  in 
1905  the  tomb  of  Yuaa  and  Tuau,  the  maternal 
v  grandparents  of  Akhnaton,  was  found  ;  in  1907 
Akhnaton' s  body  was  discovered  in  the  tomb  of 
his  mother,  Queen  Tiy  ;  and  in  1908  the  tomb 
of  the  Pharaoh  Horemheb,  one  of  the  immediate 
successors  of  Akhnaton,  was  brought  to  light. 
At  all  but  the  first  of  these  discoveries  the  present 
writer  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  in  charge  ; 
and  a  particular  interest  in  the  period  was  thus 

*  As  will  be  recorded  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  the  body  of  Akhnaton 
was  discovered  at  Thebes  early  in  1907  by  Mr.  Theodore  M.  Davis, 
and  the  party  financed  by  him,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Egyptian 
Government  Department  of  Antiquities  in  the  person  of  the  present 
writer. 


/ 


THE  ANCESTORS  OF  AKHNATON 


5 


engendered,  of  which  the  following  sketch,  pre¬ 
pared  during  an  Upper  Egyptian  summer,  is  an 
outcome.  It  must  be  understood,  however,  that 
a  volume  written  at  such  times  as  the  exigencies 
of  official  work  allowed — partly  in  the  shade  of 
the  rocks  beside  the  Nile,  partly  at  railway- 
stations  or  in  the  train,  partly  amidst  the  ruins 
of  ancient  temples,  and  parity  in  the  darkened 
rooms  of  official  quarters  during  the  heat  of  the 
day — cannot  claim  the  value  of  a  treatise  pre¬ 
pared  in  an  English  study  where  books  of  refer¬ 
ence  are  always  at  hand.  It  is  believed,  however, 
that  no  errors  have  been  made  in  the  statement 
of  the  facts ;  and  the  deductions  drawn  there¬ 
from  are  frankly  open  to  the  reader’s  criticism. 
There  will  certainty  be  no  two  opinions  as  to  the 
originality,  the  power,  and  the  idealism  of  the 
Pharaoh  whose  life  is  now  to  be  outlined.1 

2.  THE  ANCESTORS  OF  AKHNATON 

The  Eighteenth  Dynasty  of  Egyptian  kings  took 
possession  of  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs  in  the 
year  1580  b.c.,  over  thirteen  hundred  years  after 
the  building  of  the  great  pyramids,  and  some 
two  thousand  years  after  the  beginning  of  dyn¬ 
astic  history  in  the  Nile  Valley.  The  founder 

>  The  writer  has  to  thank  the  editors  of  “  The  Quarterly  Review," 
*'  Blackwood’s  Magazine,"  and  “The  Century  Magazine,"  for  permit¬ 
ting  him  to  embody  in  this  volume  certain  portions  of  articles  contri¬ 
buted  by  him  to  the  pages  of  those  journals. 


6 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


of  the  dynasty  was  the  Pharaoh  Ahmose  I.  He 
drove  out  the  Asiatics  who  had  overrun  the 
country  during  the  previous  century,  and  pur¬ 
sued  them  into  the  heart  of  Syria.  His  successor, 
Amenophis  I,  penetrated  as  far  as  the  territory 
between  the  Orontes  and  the  Euphrates ;  and 
the  next  king,  Thutmosis  I,  was  able  to  set  his 
boundary-stone  at  the  northern  limits  of  Syria, 
and  thus  could  call  himself  the  ruler  of  the  entire 
east  end  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  emperor  of 
all  the  countries  from  Asia  Minor  to  the  Sudan. 
Thutmosis  II,  the  succeeding  Pharaoh,  was 
occupied  with  wars  in  his  southern  dominions  ; 
but  his  successor,  the  famous  Queen  Hatshepsut, 
was  able  to  devote  the  years  of  her  reign  to  the 
arts  of  peace. 

She  was  followed  by  the  great  warrior 
Thutmosis  III,  who  conducted  campaign  after 
campaign  in  Syria,  and  raised  the  prestige  of 
Egypt  to  a  point  never  attained  before  or  after 
that  time.  Every  year  he  returned  to  Thebes, 
his  capital,  laden  with  the  spoils  of  Asia.  From 
the  capture  of  the  city  of  Megiddo  alone  he 
carried  away  924  splendid  chariots,  2,238  horses, 
2,400  head  of  various  kinds  of  cattle,  200  shining 
suits  of  armour,  including  those  of  two  kings, 
quantities  of  gold  and  silver,  the  royal  sceptre, 
the  gorgeous  tent  of  one  of  the  kings,  and  many 
minor  articles.  Booty  of  like  value  was  brought 


THE  ANCESTORS  OF  AKHNATON 


7 


in  from  other  shattered  kingdoms,  and  the 
Egyptian treasuries  were  full  to  overflowing. 
The  temples  of  the  gods  also  received  their  share 
of  the  riches,  and  their  altars  groaned  under  the 
weight  of  the  offerings.  Cyprus,  Crete,  and 
perhaps  the  islands  of  the  /Egean,  sent  their 
yearly  tribute  to  Thebes,  whose  streets,  for  the 
first  time  in  history,  were  thronged  with  foreigners. 
Here  were  to  be  seen  the  long-robed  Asiatics 
adorned  with  jewels  made  by  the  hands  of  Tyrian 
craftsmen ;  here  were  chariots  mounted  with 
gold  and  electrum  drawn  by  prancing  Syrian 
horses ;  here  were  Phoenician  merchants  with 
their  precious  wares  stripped  from  the  kingdoms 
of  the  sea ;  here  were  negroes  bearing  their 
barbaric  treasures  to  the  palace.  The  Egyptian 
soldiers  held  their  heads  high  as  they  walked 
through  these  streets,  for  they  were  feared  by 
all  the  world.  The  talk  was  everywhere  of 
conquest,  and  the  tales  of  adventure  now  related 
remained  current  in  Egypt  for  many  a  century. 
War-songs  were  composed,  and  hymns  of  battle 
were  inscribed  upon  the  temple  walls.  The  spirit 
of  the  age  will  be  seen  in  the  following  lines, 
in  which  the  god  Amon  addresses  Thutmosis  III — 

"  I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  the  princes  of  Zahi, 

I  have  hurled  them  beneath  thy  feet  among  their  high¬ 
lands  .  .  . 

Thou  hast  trampled  those  who  are  in  the  districts  of  Punt, 


8 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  a  circling  star  .  .  . 

Crete  and  Cyprus  are  in  terror  .  .  . 

Those  who  are  in  the  midst  of  the  great  sea  hear  thy  roarings  ; 

I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  an  avenger, 

Rising  upon  the  back  of  his  slain  victim  .  .  . 

I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  a  fierce-eyed  lion, 

While  thou  makest  them  corpses  in  their  valleys  .  . 

It  was  a  fierce  and  a  splendid  age — the  zenith 
of  Egypt's  great  history.  The  next  king,  Amen- 
ophis  II,  carried  on  the  conquests  with  a  degree 
of  ferocity  not  previously  apparent.  He  himself 
was  a  man  of  great  physical  strength,  who  could 
draw  a  how  which  none  of  his  soldiers  could 
use.  He  led  his  armies  into  his  restless  Asiatic 
dominions,  and  having  captured  seven  rebellious 
Syrian  kings,  he  hung  them  head  downwards 
from  the  prow  of  his  galley  as  he  approached 
Thebes,  and  later  sacrificed  six  of  them  to  Amon 
with  his  own  hand.  The  seventh  he  carried  up 
to  a  distant  city  of  the  Sudan,  and  there  hung 
him  upon  the  gateway  as  a  warning  to  all  rebels. 
Dying  in  the  year  1420  b.c.,  he  left  the  throne 
to  his  son,  Thutmosis  IV,  the  grandfather  of 
Akhnaton,  who  at  his  accession  was  about 
eighteen  years  of  age.1 

3.  THE  GODS  OF  EGYPT 

With  the  reign  of  Thutmosis  IV  we  reach  a 
period  of  history  in  which  the  beginnings  are  to 

*  1  Page  95. 


The  Head  of  the  Mummy  of  Thutmosis  IV., 
the  grandfather  of  Akhnaton 


(See  page  20) 


THE  GODS  OF  EGYPT 


9 


be  observed  of  certain  religious  movements,  which 
become  more  apparent  in  the  time  of  his  son 
Amenophis  III  and  his  grandson  Akhnaton. 
We  must  look,  therefore,  more  closely  at  the 
events  of  this  reign,  and  must  especially  observe 
their  religious  aspect.  For  this  reason,  and  also 
in  order  that  the  reader  may  the  more  readily 
appreciate,  by  contrast,  the  pure  teachings  of 
the  Pharaoh  whose  life  forms  the  subject  of  the 
following  pages,  it  will  be  necessary  to  glance  at 
the  nature  of  the  religions  which  now  held  sway. 
Egypt  had  at  this  time  existed  as  a  civilised 
nation  for  over  two  thousand  years,  during  the 
whole  of  which  period  these  religious  beliefs  had 
been  developing  ;  and  now  they  were  so  engrained 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people  that  changes,  how¬ 
ever  slight,  assumed  revolutionary  proportions, 
requiring  a  master-mind  for  their  initiation,  and 
a  hand  of  iron  for  their  carrying  into  execution. 
At  the  time  of  which  we  now  write,  this  mind 
and  this  hand  had  not  yet  come  into  existence, 
and  the  old  gods  of  Egypt  were  at  the  zenith 
of  their  power. 

Of  these  gods  Amon,  the  presiding  deity  of 
Thebes,  was  the  most  powerful.  He  had  been 
originally  the  tribal  god  of  the  Thebans,  but 
when  that  city  had  become  the  capital  of  Egypt, 
he  had  risen  to  be  the  state  god  of  the  country. 
The  sun-god  Ra,  or  Ra-Horakhti,  originally  the 


10 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


deity  of  Heliopolis,  a  city  not  far  from  the 
modern  Cairo,  had  been  the  state  god  in  earlier 
times,  and  the  priests  of  Amon  contrived  to 
identify  the  two  deities  under  the  name  “  Amon- 
Ra,  King  of  the  Gods.”  Amon  had  several 
forms.  He  was  usually  regarded  as  a  man  of 
shining  countenance,  upon  whose  head  two  tall 
feathers  arose  from  a  golden  cap.  Sometimes, 
however,  he  assumed  the  form  of  a  heavy-horned 
ram.  Sometimes,  again,  he  adopted  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  a  brother  god,  named  Min,  who  was  later 
identified  with  the  Greek  Pan  ;  and  it  may  be 
mentioned  in  passing  that  the  goat-form  of  the 
Greek  deity  may  have  been  derived  from,  or  con¬ 
nected  with,  this  Min-Amon  of  the  Thebans.  On 
occasions,  Amon  would  take  upon  himself  the  like¬ 
ness  of  the  reigning  Pharaoh,  choosing  a  moment 
when  the  monarch  was  away  or  was  asleep, 
and  in  this  manner  he  would  obtain  admittance 
to  the  queen's  bed-chamber.  Amenophis  III 
himself  was  said  to  be  the  son  of  a  union  of  this 
nature,  though  at  the  same  time  he  did  not  deny 
that  his  earthly  father  was  Thutmosis  IV.  Amon 
delighted  in  battle,  and  gave  willing  assistance 
to  the  Pharaohs  as  they  clubbed  the  heads  of 
their  enemies  or  cut  their  throats.  It  is  possible 

Ys 

that,  like  other  of  the  Egyptian  gods,  he  was 
but  a  deified  chieftain  of  the  prehistoric  period 
whose  love  of  battle  had  never  been  forgotten. 


THE  GODS  OF  EGYPT 


11 


The  goddess,  Mut,  “  the  Mother,”  was  the 
consort  of  Amon,  who  would  sometimes  come 
to  earth  to  nurse  the  king’s  son  at  her  breast. 
By  Amon  she  had  a  son,  Khonsu,  who  formed 
the  third  member  of  the  Theban  trinity.  He 
was  the  god  of  the  Moon,  and  was  very  fair 
to  look  upon. 

Such  were  the  Theban  deities,  whose  influence 
upon  the  court  was  necessarily  great.  The  Helio- 
politan  worship  of  the  sun  had  also  a  very  con¬ 
siderable  degree  of  power  at  the  palace.  The 
god  Ra  was  believed  to  have  reigned  as  Pharaoh 
upon  earth  in  the  dim  ages  of  the  past,  and  it 
was  thought  that  the  successive  sovereigns  of 
Egypt  were  his  direct  descendants,  though  this 
tradition  actually  did  not  date  from  a  period 
earlier  than  the  Fifth  Dynasty.  “  Son  of  the 
Sun  ”  was  one  of  the  proudest  titles  of  the 
Pharaohs,  and  the  personal  name  of  each  suc¬ 
cessive  monarch  was  held  by  him  in  the  official 
titulary  as  the  representative  of  Ra.  While  on 
earth  Ra  had  had  the  misfortune  to  be  bitten 
by  a  snake,  and  had  been  cured  by  the  goddess 
Isis,  who  had  demanded  in  return  the  revealing 
of  the  god’s  magical  name.  This  was  at  last 
told  her  ;  but  for  fear  that  the  secret  would 
come  to  the  ears  of  his  subjects,  Ra  decided  to 
bring  about  a  general  massacre  of  mankind.  The 
slaughter  was  carried  out  by  the  goddess  Hathor 


X 


12 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


in  her  form  of  Sekhmet,  a  fierce  lion-headed 
woman,  who  delighted  to  wade  in  streams  of 
blood  ;  but  when  only  the  half  of  mankind  had 
been  slain,  Ra  repented,  and  brought  the  mas¬ 
sacre  to  an  end  by  causing  the  goddess  to  become 
drunk,  by  means  of  a  gruesome  potion  of  blood 
and  wine.  Weary,  however,  with  the  cares  of 
state,  he  decided  to  retire  into  the  heavens,  and 
there,  as  the  sun,  he  daily  sailed  in  his  boat  from 
horizon  to  horizon.  At  dav/n  he  was  called 
Khepera,  and  had  the  form  of  a  beetle  ;  at  noon 
he  was  Ra ;  and  at  sunset  he  took  the  name 
of  Atum,  a  word  probably  connected  with  the 
Syrian  Adon,  “  Lord/'  better  known  to  us  in  its 
Greek  translation  44  Adonis.”  As  the  rising  and 
the  setting  sun — that  is  to  say,  the  sun  near  the 
horizon— he  was  called  Ra-Horakhti,  a  name 
which  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind. 

/  The  goddess  Isis,  mentioned  in  the  above 
tradition,  was  the  consort  of  Osiris,  originally 
a  Lower  Egyptian  deity.  Like  Ra,  this  god 
had  also  reigned  upon  earth,  but  had  been 
murdered  by  his  brother  Set,  his  death  being 
ultimately  revenged  by  his  son  Horus,  the  hawk. 
Thus  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Horus  formed  a  trinity, 
which  at  this  time  was  mainly  worshipped  at 
Abydos,  a  city  of  Upper  Egypt,  where  it  was 
thought  that  Osiris  had  been  buried  Having 
thus  ceased  to  live  upon  earth,  Osiris  became 


THE  GODS  OF  EGYPT 


13 


the  great  King  of  the  Underworld,  and  all  persons 
prayed  to  him  for  their  future  welfare  after  death. 

Meanwhile  Horus,  the  hawk,  was  the  tribal 
god  of  more  than  one  city.  At  Edfu  he  was 
worshipped  as  the  conqueror  of  Set ;  and  in  this 
manifestation  he  was  the  husband  of  Hathor, 
the  lady  of  Dendereh,  a  city  some  considerable 
distance  from  Edfu.  At  Ombos,  however,  Set 
was  worshipped,  and  in  the  local  religion  there 
was  no  trace  of  aught  but  the  most  friendly 
relations  between  Set  and  Horus.  The  goddess 
Hathor,  at  the  same  time,  had  become  patron 
of  the  Western  Hills,  and  in  one  of  her  earthly 
forms — namely,  that  of  a  cow — she  is  often 
represented  emerging  from  her  cavern  in  the  cliffs. 

At  Memphis  the  tribal  god  was  the  little  dwarf 
Ptah,  the  European  V ulcan,  the  blacksmith, 
the  artificer,  and  the  potter  of  the  gods.  In 
this  city  also,  as  in  many  other  districts  of  Egypt, 
there  was  a  sacred  bull,  here  called  Apis,  who 
was  worshipped  with  divine  honours  and  was 
regarded  as  an  aspect  of  Ptah.  At  Elephantine 
a  ram-headed  deity  named  Khnum  was  adored, 
and  there  was  a  sacred  ram  kept  in  his  temple 
for  ceremonial  purposes.  As  Khnum  had  some 
connection  with  the  First  Cataract  of  the  Nile, 
which  is  situated  near  Elephantine,  he  was  re¬ 
garded  as  of  great  importance  throughout  Egypt. 
Moreover,  he  was  supposed  by  some  to  have 


14 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


used  the  mud  at  the  bottom  of  the  Nile  to  form 
the  first  human  being,  and  thus  he  found  a  place 
in  the  mythology  of  several  districts. 

A  vulture,  named  Nekheb,  was  the  tribal 
deity  of  the  trading  city  of  Eileithiaspolis  ;  a 
ferocious  crocodile,  Sebek,  was  the  god  of  a 
second  city  of  the  name  of  Ombos ;  an  ibis, 
Thoth,  was  that  of  Hermopolis ;  a  cat,  Bast, 
that  of  Bubastis  ;  and  so  on — almost  every  city 
having  its  tribal  god.  Besides  these  there  were 
other  more  abstract  deities  :  Nut,  the  heavens, 
who,  in  the  form  of  a  woman,  spread  herself 
across  the  sky  ;  Seb,  the  earth  ;  Shu,  the  vast¬ 
ness  of  space  ;  and  so  forth.  The  old  gods  of 
Egypt  were  indeed  a  multitude.  Here  were 
those  who  had  marched  into  the  country  at 
the  head  of  conquering  tribes  ;  here  were  ancient 
heroes  and  chieftains  individually  deified,  or 
often  identified  with  the  god  whom  their  tribe 
had  served ;  here  were  the  elements  personified  ; 
here  the  orbs  of  heaven  which  man  could  see 
above  him.  As  intercourse  between  city  and 
city  became  more  general,  one  set  of  beliefs  had 
been  brought  into  line  with  another,  and  myths 
had  developed  to  explain  the  discrepancies. 

Thus  in  the  time  of  Thutmosis  IV  the  heavens 
were  crowded  with  gods ;  but  the  reader  will 
do  well  to  familiarise  himself  with  the  figure  of 
Amon-Ra,  the  god  of  Thebes,  who  stood  above 


DEMIGODS  AND  SPIRITS — PRIESTHOODS 


15 


them  all,  and  with  Ra-Horakhti,  the  god  of 
Heliopolis.  In  the  following  pages  the  lesser 
denizens  of  the  Egyptian  Olympus  play  no  great 
part,  save  as  a  routed  army  hurled  back  into 
the  ignorant  darkness  from  which  they  came. 

4.  THE  DEMIGODS  AND  SPIRITS— THE 

PRIESTHOODS 

The  sacred  bulls  and  rams  mentioned  above 
were  relics  of  an  ancient  animal-worship,  the 
origin  of  which  is  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  pre¬ 
history.  The  Egyptians  paid  homage  to  a  variety 
of  animals,  and  almost  every  city  or  district 
possessed  its  particular  species  to  which  special 
protection  was  extended.  At  Hermopolis  and 
in  other  parts  of  Egypt  the  baboon  was  sacred, 
as  well  as  the  ibis,  which  typified  the  god  Thoth. 
Cats  were  sacred  both  at  Bubastis,  where  the 
cat-goddess,  Bast,  resided,  and  in  various  other 
districts.  Crocodiles  were  veiy  generally  held 
in  reverence,  and  several  river  fish  were  thus 
treated.  The  snake  was  much  feared  and 
reverenced  ;  and,  as  a  pertinent  example  of  this 
superstition,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  Ameno 
phis  III,  the  father  of  Akhnaton,  placed  a  figure 
of  the  agathodemon  serpent  in  a  temple  at  Benha. 
The  cobra  was  reverenced  as  the  symbol  of  Uazet, 
the  goddess  of  the  Delta,  and,  first  used  as  a 
royal  emblem  by  the  archaic  kings  of  that 


16 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


country,  it  became  the  main  emblem  of  sover¬ 
eignty  in  Pharaonic  times.  It  is  unnecessary 
here  to  look  more  closely  at  this  aspect  of 
Egyptian  religion ;  and  but  a  word  need  be 
said  of  the  thousand  demons  and  spirits  which, 
together  with  the  gods  and  the  sacred  animals, 
crowded  the  regions  of  the  unknown.  Many 
were  the  names  which  the  magician  might  call 
upon  in  the  hour  of  his  need,  and  many  were 
the  awful  forms  which  the  soul  of  a  man  who  had 
died  was  liable  to  meet.  Osiris,  the  great  god 
of  the  dead,  was  served  by  four  such  genii,  and 
under  his  authority  there  sat  no  less  than  forty- 
two  terrible  demons  whose  business  it  was  to 
judge  the  quavering  soul.  The  numerous  gates 
of  the  underworld  were  guarded  by  monsters 
whose  names  alone  would  strike  terror  into  the 
heart,  and  the  unfortunate  soul  had  to  repeat 
endless  and  peculiarly  tedious  formulae  before 
admittance  was  granted. 

To  minister  to  these  hosts  of  heaven  there 
had  of  necessity  to  be  vast  numbers  of  priests. 
At  Thebes  the  priesthood  of  Amon  formed  an 
organisation  of  such  power  and  wealth  that  the 
actions  of  the  Pharaoh  had  largely  come  to  be 
controlled  by  it.  The  High  Priest  of  Amon-Ra 
was  one  of  the  most  important  personages  in 
the  land,  and  his  immediate  subordinates,  the 
Second,  Third,  and  Fourth  Priests,  as  they  were 


THUTMOSIS  IV  AND  MUTEMUA 


17 


called,  were  usually  nobles  of  the  highest  rank. 
The  High  Priest  of  Amon  was  at  this  period 
often  Grand  Vizir  also,  and  thus  combined  the 
highest  civil  appointment  with  the  highest 
sacerdotal  office.  The  priesthood  of  Ra  at  Helio¬ 
polis,  although  of  far  less  power  than  that  of 
Amon,  was  also  a  body  of  great  importance. 
The  High  Priest  was  known  as  “  the  Great  One 
of  Visions/'  and  he  was  perhaps  less  of  a  politician 
and  more  of  a  priest  than  his  Theban  colleague. 
The  High  Priest  of  Ptah  at  Memphis  was  called 
“  the  Great  Master  Artificer/’  Ptah  being  the 
Vulcan  of  Egypt.  He,  however,  and  the  many 
other  high  priests  of  the  various  gods,  did  not 
rank  with  the  two  great  leaders  of  the  Amon 
and  the  Ra  priesthoods. 

5.  THUTMOSIS  IV  AND  MUTEMUA 

When  Thutmosis  IV  ascended  the  throne  he 
was  confronted  by  a  very  serious  political  prob¬ 
lem.  The  Heliopolitan  priesthood  at  this  time 
was  chafing  against  the  power  of  Amon,  and 
was  striving  to  restore  the  somewhat  fallen 
prestige  of  its  own  god  Ra,  who  in  the  far  past 
had  been  the  supreme  deity  of  Egypt,  but  had 
now  to  play  an  annoying  second  to  the  Theban 
god.  Thutmosis  IV,  as  we  shall  presently  be 
told  by  Akhnaton  himself,1  did  not  altogether 

*  Page  86 


18 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


approve  of  the  political  character  of  the  Amon 
priesthood,  and  it  may  have  been  ,  due  to  this 
dissatisfaction  that  he  undertook  the  repairing 
of  the  great  sphinx  at  Gizeh,  which  was  in  the 
care  of  the  priests  of  Heliopolis.  The  sphinx 
was  thought  to  represent  a  combination  of  the 
Heliopolitan  gods  Horakhti,  Khepera,  Ra,  and 
Atum,  who  have  been  mentioned  above ;  and 
according  to  a  later  tradition,  Thutmosis  IV 
had  obtained  the  throne  over  the  heads  of  his 
elder  brothers  through  the  mediation  of  the 
sphinx— that  is  to  say,  through  that  of  the 
Heliopolitan  priests.  By  them  he  was  called 
“  Son  of  Atum  and  Protector  of  Horakhte,  .  .  . 
who  purifies  Heliopolis  and  satisfies  Ra,”1  and 
it  seems  that  they  looked  to  him  to  restore  to 
them  their  lost  power.  The  Pharaoh,  however, 
was  a  physical  weakling,  whose  small  amount 
of  energy  was  entirely  expended  upon  his  army, 
which  he  greatly  loved,  and  which  he  led  into 
Syria  and  into  the  Sudan.  His  brief  reign  of 
somewhat  over  eight  years,  from  1420  to  1411 
B.c.,  marks  but  the  indecisive  beginnings  of  the 
struggle  between  Amon  and  Ra,  which  culminated 
in  the  early  years  of  the  reign  of  his  grandson 
Akhnaton. 

Some  time  before  he  came  to  the  throne  he 
had  married  a  daughter  of  the  King  of  Mitanni, 

*  The  sphinx  tablet. 


THUTMOSIS  IV  AND  MUTEMUA 


19 


a  North-Syrian  state  which  acted  as  a  buffer 
between  the  Egyptian  possessions  in  Syria  and 
the  hostile  lands  of  Asia  Minor  and  Mesopotamia, 
and  which  it  was  desirable,  therefore,  to  placate 
by  such  a  union.  There  is  little  doubt  that  this 
princess  is  to  be  identified  with  the  Queen 
Mutemua,  of  whom  several  monuments  exist, 
and  who  was  the  mother  of  Amenophis  III,  the 
son  and  successor  of  Thutmosis  IV.  A  foreign 
element  was  thus  introduced  into  the  court  which 
much  altered  its  character,  and  led  to  numerous 
changes  of  a  very  radical  nature.  It  may  be 
that  this  Asiatic  influence  induced  the  Pharaoh 
to  give  further  encouragement  to  the  priests  of 
Heliopolis.  The  god  At um,  the  aspect  of  Ra 
as  the  setting  sun,  was,  as  has  been  said, 
probably  of  common  origin  with  Aton,  who  was 
largely  worshipped  in  North  Syria ;  and  the 
foreign  queen  with  her  retinue  may  have  there¬ 
fore  felt  more  sympathy  with  Heliopolis  than 
with  Thebes.  Moreover,  it  was  the  Asiatic 
tendency  to  speculate  in  religious  questions, 
and  the  doctrines  of  the  priests  of  the  northern 
god  was  more  flexible  and  more  adaptable  to 
the  thinker  than  was  the  stiff,  formal  creed  of 
Amon.  Thus,  the  foreign  thought  which  had 
now  been  introduced  into  Egypt,  and  especially 
into  the  palace,  may  have  contributed  somewhat 
to  the  dissatisfaction  with  the  state  religion 


20 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


which  becomes  apparent  during  this  reign. 

Very  little  is  known  of  the  character  of  Thut- 
mosis  IV,  and  nothing  which  bears  upon  that 
of  his  grandson  Akhnaton  is  to  be  ascertained. 
Although  of  feeble  health  and  unmanly  physique, 
he  was  a  fond  upholder  of  the  martial  dignity 
of  Egypt.  He  delighted  to  honour  the  memory 
of  those  Pharaohs  of  the  past  who  had  achieved 
the  greatest  fame  as  warriors.  Thus  he  restored 
the  monuments  of  Thutmosis  III,  of  Ahmose  I, 
and  of  Sesostris  III,1  the  three  greatest  military 
leaders  of  Egyptian  history.  As  a  decoration 
for  his  chariot  there  were  scenes  representing 
him  trampling  upon  his  foes ;  and  when  he 
died  many  weapons  of  war  were  buried  with  him. 
Of  Queen  Mutemua's  character  nothing  is  known  ; 
and  the  attention  of  the  reader  may  at  once  be 
carried  on  to  Akhnaton’ s  maternal  grandparents, 
the  father  and  mother  of  Queen  Tiy. 

6.  YUAA  AND  TUAU 

Somewhere  about  the  year  1470  b.c.,  while 
the  great  Thutmosis  III  was  campaigning  in 
Syria,  the  child  was  born  who  was  destined  to 
become  the  grandfather  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  ail  the  Pharaohs  of  Egypt.  Neither  the  names 
of  the  parents  nor  the  place  of  birth  are  known  ; 

*  Of  Thutmosis  III.  at  Karnak,  of  Ahmose  I.  at  Abydos,  and  of 
Sesostris  III.  at  Amada. 


YUAA  AND  TUAU 


21 


HUTMOSIS  IV.  SLAYING  ASIATICS. 


22 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


and  the  reader  will  presently  find  that  it  is  not 
easy  to  say  whether  the  child  was  an  Egyptian 
or  a  foreigner.  His  name  is  written  Aau,  Aay, 
Aai,  Ayu,  A-aa,  Yaa,  Yau,  and  most  commonly 
Ynaa  ;  and  this  variety  of  spelling  seems  rather 
to  indicate  that  its  pronunciation,  being  foreign, 
did  not  permit  of  a  correct  rendering  in  Egyptian 
letters.  He  must  have  been  some  twenty  years 
of  age  when  Thutmosis  III  died  ;  and  thus  it  is 
quite  possible  that  he  was  one  of  those  Syrian 
princes  whom  the  Pharaoh  brought  back  to  Egypt 
from  the  courts  of  Asia  to  be  educated  in  the 
Egyptian  manner.  Some  of  these  hostages  who 
were  not  direct  heirs  to  Syrian  thrones  may  have 
taken  up  their  permanent  residence  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nile,  where  it  is  certain  that  a  fair  number 
of  their  countrymen  were  settled  for  business 

...  X 

and  other  purposes.  During  the  reign  of  Amen- 
ophis  II,  Yuaa  must  have  passed  the  prime  years 
of  his  life,  and  at  that  king's  death  he  had  prob¬ 
ably  reached  about  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his 
age.  He  had  married  a  woman  called  by  the 
common  Egyptian  name  of  Tuau,  regarding 
whose  nationality  there  is,  therefore,  not  much 
question.  Two  children  were  bom  of  the  marriage, 
the  first  a  boy  who  was  named  Aanen,  and  the 
second  a  nri  named  Tiy,  who  later  became  the 
great  queen.  Tiy  was  probably  a  little  girl 
some  two  years  old  when  Thutmosis  IV  came 


YU  A  A  AND  TUAU 


23 


to  the  throne,  and  as  her  parents  both  held 
appointments  at  court,  she  must  have  presently 
received  those  first  impressions  of  royal  luxury 
which  influenced  her  childhood  and  her  whole 
life. 

At  this  time  Yuaa  held  the  sacerdotal  office 
of  Priest  of  Min,  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  the 
Egyptian  gods.  Min,  who  had  many  of  the 
characteristics  of,  and  was  later  identified  with, 
the  Greek  Pan,  was  worshipped  at  three  or  four 
cities  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  throughout  the 
Eastern  Desert  to  the  Red  Sea  coast.  He  was 
the  god  of  fecundity,  fertility,  generation,  repro¬ 
duction,  and  the  like,  in  the  human,  animal, 
and  vegetable  worlds.  In  his  form  of  Min-Ra 
he  was  a  god  of  the  sun,  whose  fertilising  rays 
made  pregnant  the  whole  earth.  He  was  more 
noble  than  the  Greek  Pan,  and  represented  the 
pristine  desires  of  lawful  reproduction  in  the 
family,  rather  than  the  erotic  instincts  for  which 
the  Greek  god  was  famous.  Were  one  to  com¬ 
pare  him  with  any  of  the  gods  of  the  countries 
neighbouring  to  Egypt,  he  would  be  found  to 
have  as  much  likeness  to  the  above-mentioned 
Adonis,  who  in  North  Syria  was  a  god  of  vegeta¬ 
tion,  as  to  any  other  deity.  This  fact  offers 
food  for  some  thought,  for  if  Yuaa  was  a  foreigner, 
hailing,  as  may  be  supposed,  from  Syria,  there 
would  have  been  no  Egyptian  god,  except  Atum, 


24 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


to  whose  service  he  would  have  attached  himself 
so  readily  as  to  that  of  Min.  Although  a  tribal 
god,  Min  was  not  essentially  the  protector  and 
upholder  of  Egyptian  rights  and  Egyptian 
prejudices.  He  was,  in  one  form  or  another, 
universal ;  and  he  must  have  appealed  to  the 
sense  and  the  senses  of  Syrian  and  Egyptian 
alike. 

At  this  time,  as  we  have  seen,  the  priests  of 
Amon,  whose  wealth  had  brought  corruption  in 
Av  its  train,  were  under  the  cloud  of  royal  dis¬ 
pleasure,  and  the  court  was  beginning  to  display 
a  desire  to  rid  itself  of  an  influence  which  was 
daily  becoming  less  exalted.  It  may  be  that 
Yuaa,  upholding  the  doctrines  of  Min  and  of 
Adonis,  had  some  connection  with  this  move¬ 
ment,  for  he  was  now  a  personage  of  considerable 
importance  at  the  palace.  He  may  have  already 
held  the  title  of  Prince  or  Duke,  by  which  he 
is  called  in  his  funeral  inscriptions ;  and  one 
may  suppose  that  he  was  a  favourite  of  the 
young  king,  Thutmosis  IV,  and  of  his  wife,  Queen 
Mutemua,  whose  blood  was  soon  to  unite  with 
his  own  in  the  person  of  Akhnaton.  When 
Thutmosis  IV  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-six, 
and  his  son  Amonophis  HI,  a  boy  of  twelve 
years  of  age,  came  to  the  throne,  Yuaa  was  a 
man  of  over  fifty,  and  his  little  daughter  Tiy 
was  a  girl  of  marriageable  age  according  to 


The  Mummy  of  Tuau,  Grandmother  of  Akhnaton  The  Mummy  of  Yuaa,  Grandfather  of  Akhnaton 

{See  page  20)  ( See  page  28) 


YUAA  AND  TUAU 


25 


Egyptian  ideas,  being  about  ten  years  old.1 

The  court  at  this  time  was  more  or  less  under 
the  influence  of  the  now  Queen-Regent  Mutemua 
and  her  advisers,  for  Amenophis  III  was  still 
too  young  to  be  allowed  to  go  entirely  his  own 
way ;  and  amongst  those  advisers  it  seems 
evident  that  Yuaa  was  to  be  numbered.  Now 
the  boy-king  had  not  been  on  the  throne  more 
than  a  year,  if  as  much,  when,  with  feasting 
and  ceremony,  he  was  married  to  Tiy ;  and 
Yuaa  and  Tuau  became  the  proud  parents-in-law 
of  the  Pharaoh. 

It  is  necessary  to  consider  the  significance  of 
the  marriage.  The  royal  pair  were  the  merest 
children  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that 
the  marriage  was  not  arranged  for  them  by 
their  guardians.  If  Amenophis  at  this  early 
age  had  simply  fallen  in  love  with  this  girl,  with 
whom  probably  he  had  been  brought  up,  he, 
no  doubt,  would  have  insisted  on  marrying  her, 
and  she  would  have  been  placed  in  his  harim. 
But  she  became  his  Great  Queen,  was  placed 
on  the  throne  beside  him,  and  received  honours 
which  no  other  queen  of  the  most  royal  blood 
had  ever  received  before.  It  is  clear  that  the 
king’s  advisers  would  never  have  permitted  this 
had  Tiy  been  but  the  pretty  daughter  of  a  noble 
of  the  court.  There  must  have  been  something 

*  These  ages  are  discussed  on  pages  95  and  154  (note). 


26 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


in  her  parentage  which  entitled  her  to  these 
honours  and  caused  her  to  be  chosen  deliberately 

as  queen. 

There  are  several  possibilities.  Tuau  may 
have  had  royal  blood  in  her  veins,  and  may  have 
been,  for  instance,  the  granddaughter  of  Thut- 
mosis  III,  to  whom  she  bears  some  likeness  in 
face.  Queen  Tiy  is  often  called  “  Royal  Daughter  ” 
as  well  as  “  Royal  Wife  ”  ;  and  it  is  possible 
that  this  is  to  be  taken  literally.  In  a  letter 
sent  by  Dushratta,  King  of  Mitanni,  to  Akhnaton, 
Tiy  is  called  “  my  sister  and  thy  mother  ”  ;  and 
though  it  is  possible  that  the  word  “  sister  ”  is 
here  used  to  indicate  the  general  cousinship  of 
royalty,  it  is  more  probable  that  some  real  con¬ 
nection  is  meant,  for  other  relationships,  such 
as  “  daughter,”  “  wife,”  and  “  father-in-law,” 
are  precisely  stated  in  the  letter.  Yuaa  may 
have  been  indirectly  of  royal  Egyptian  blood, 
or  he  may  have  been,  as  we  have  seen,  the  off¬ 
spring  of  some  Syrian  royal  house,  such  as  that 
of  Mitanni,  related  by  marriage  with  the 
Pharaoh ;  and  thus  Tiy  may  have  had  some 
distant  claim  to  the  throne,  and  Dushratta  would 
have  had  reason  for  calling  her  his  sister.  Queen 
Tiy,  however,  has  so  often  been  called  a  foreigner 
for  reasons  which  have  now  been  shown  to  be 
quite  erroneous  that  we  must  be  cautious  in 
adopting  any  of  these  possibilities.  It  has  been 


YTJAA  AND  TUAU 


27 


stated  that  her  face  is  North-Syrian  in  type,1 
and,  as  the  portrait  upon  which  this  statement  is 
based  is,  in  all  features  except  the  nose,  reminis¬ 
cent  of  Yuaa,  that  noble  would  also  resemble  the 
people  of  that  country  ;  and  in  this  connection 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  marriage  of  Tiy 
and  Amenophis  took  place  under  the  regency 
of  Mutemua,  herself  probably  a  North-Syrian 
princess.  Be  this  as  it  may,  however,  the  two 
children,  not  yet  in  their  'teens,  ruled  Egypt 
together,  and  Yuaa  and  Tuau  stood  behind  the 
throne  to  advise  them. 

Tuau  now  included  amongst  her  titles  those 
of  “  Royal  Handmaid/'  or  lady-in-waiting,  “  the 
favoured-one  of  Hathor,"  “  the  favourite  of  the 
King,"  and  “  the  Royal  mother  of  the  great  wife 
of  the  King,"  a  title  which  may  indicate  that 
she  was  of  royal  blood.  Amongst  the  titles  of 
Yuaa  one  may  mention  those  of  “  Master  of  the 
Horse  and  Chariot-Captain  of  the  King,"  “  the 
favourite,  excellent  above  all  favourites,"  and 
“  the  mouth  and  ears  of  the  King," — that  is  to 
say,  his  agent  and  adviser.  He  was  a  personage 
of  commanding  presence,  whose  powerful  charac¬ 
ter  showed  itself  in  his  face.  One  must  picture 

i  Petrie,  History,  ii.  p.  183.  The  portrait  upon  which  he  bases 
this  statement,  however,  may  be  that  of  Akhnaton  (fig.  115,  p.  182). 
The  mouth  and  chin  are  extremely  like  those  of  Yuaa,  as  seen  in  his 
mummy  ;  but  again  they  both  have  a  close  resemblance  to  the  head 
of  Amenophis  III.  (idem,  fig.  120,  p.  188).  Of  course,  such  evidence 
is  extremely  frail,  and  must  not  be  too  much  relied  upon. 


28 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


him  now  as  a  tall  man,  with  a  fine  shock  of  white 
hair  ;  a  great  hooked  nose,  like  that  of  a  Syrian  ; 
full,  strong  lips ;  and  a  prominent,  determined 
jaw.  He  has  the  face  of  an  ecclesiastic ;  and 
one  feels,  in  looking  at  his  well-preserved  features, 
that  here  perhaps  may  be  found  the  originator 
of  the  great  religious  movement  which  his 
daughter  and  grandson  carried  into  execution. 

7.  AMENOPHIS  III  AND  HIS  COURT 

Besides  Yuaa  and  Tuau  and  the  Queen- 
Dowager  Mutemua,  there  was  a  certain  noble, 
named  Amenophis-son-of-Hapu,  who  may  have 
exercised  considerable  influence  upon  the  young 
Pharaoh.  So  good  and  wise  a  man  was  he,  that 
in  later  times  he  was  regarded  almost  as  a  divinity, 
and  his  sayings  were  treasured  from  generation 
to  generation.  It  may  be  that  he  furthered  the 
cause  of  the  Heliopolitan  priesthood  against 
that  of  Amon  ;  and  it  is  to  be  observed  in  this 
connection  that,  in  the  inscription  engraved 
upon  his  statue,  he  refers  to  the  Pharaoh  as  the 
“  heir  of  Atum  ”  and  the  “  first-born  son  of 
Horakhti,,,  those  being  the  Heliopolitan  gods. 
When,  presently,  a  daughter  was  bom  to  Tiy, 
who  was  named  Setamon,  this  philosopher  was 
given  the  honorary  post  of  “Steward”  to  the 
princess ;  while  at  the  same  time  he  filled  the 
office  of  a  sort  of  Minister  of  Public  Works,  and 


AMENOPHIS  III  AND  HIS  COURT 


29 


held  various  court  appointments.  At  this 
period,  when  religious  speculation  was  beginning 
to  be  freely  indulged  in,  the  influence  of  a  “  wise 
man  ”  of  this  character  would  necessarily  be 
great ;  and  should  any  of  his  sayings  come  to 
light,  they  will  perhaps  be  found  to  bear  upon 
the  subject  of  the  religious  changes  which  were 
now  taking  place.  A  late  tradition  tells  us  that 
this  Arnenophis  had  warned  the  Pharaoh  that 
if  he  would  see  the  true  God  he  must  drive  from 
his  kingdom  all  impure  persons ;  and  herein 
one  may  perhaps  observe  some  reference  to  the 
corrupt  priests  of  Amon,  whose  ejection  from 
their  offices  was  daily  becoming  more  necessary. 
Josephus  connects  this  tradition  with  the  Exodus 
of  the  Jews  from  Egypt,  and  it  is  possible  that 
the  excavations  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society 
now  (1922)  being  conducted  on  the  site  of  the 
city  built  by  Akhnaton,  may  bring  to  light 
information  which  will  strengthen  a  now  very 
general  feeling  that  the  Exodus  has  some  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  events  which  are  described  in  the 
following  pages. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write  Egypt  still 
remained  at  that  height  of  power  to  which  the 
military  skill  of  Thutmosis  III  had  raised  her. 
The  Kings  of  Palestine  and  Syria  were  tribu¬ 
taries  to  the  young  Pharaoh  ;  the  princes  of  the 
sea-coast  cities  sent  their  yearly  impost  to 


30 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


Thebes ;  Cyprus,  Crete,  and  even  the  Greek 
islands,  were  Egyptianised  ;  Sinai  and  the  Red 
Sea  coast  as  far  south  as  Somaliland  were  in¬ 
cluded  in  the  Pharaoh's  dominions ;  and  the 
negro  tribes  of  the  Sudan  were  his  slaves.  Egypt 
was  indeed  the  greatest  state  in  the  world,  and 
Thebes  was  a  metropolis  at  which  the  ambas¬ 
sadors,  the  merchants,  and  the  artisans  from 
these  various  countries  met  together.  Here  they 
could  look  upon  buildings  undreamed  of  in  their 
own  lands,  and  could  participate  in  luxuries 
unknown  even  in  Babylon.  The  wealth  of  Egypt 
was  so  enormous  that  a  foreign  sovereign  who 
wrote  to  the  Pharaoh  asking  for  gold  mentioned 
that  it  could  not  be  considered  as  anything  more 
valuable  than  so  much  dust  by  an  Egyptian. 
Golden  vases  in  vast  quantities  adorned  the  table 
of  the  king  and  his  nobles,  and  hundreds  of 
golden  vessels  of  different  kinds  were  used  in 
the  temples. 

The  splendour  and  gaiety  of  the  court  at 
Thebes  remind  one  of  the  tales  from  the  Arabian 
Nights.  One  reads  of  banquets,  of  splendid 
festivals  on  the  water,  of  jubilee  celebrations, 
and  of  hunting  parties.  When  the  scenes  de¬ 
picted  on  the  monuments  are  gathered  together 
in  the  mind,  and  the  ruins  which  are  left  are 
there  reconstructed,  a  life  of  the  most  intense 
brilliancy  is  shown.  This  was  rather  a  develop- 


AMKNGPHIS  III  AND  HIS  COURT 


31 


ment  of  the  period  than  a  condition  of  things 
which  had  been  derived  from  an  earlier  regime. 
The  Egyptians  had  always  been  a  happy,  light¬ 
hearted  people ;  but  it  was  the  conquests  of 
Thutmosis  III  that  had  given  them  the  security 
and  the  wealth  to  live  as  luxuriously  as  they 
pleased.  The  tendency  of  the  nation  was  now 
to  break  away  from  the  old,  hardy  traditions  of 
the  earlier  periods  of  Egyptian  history ;  and 
perhaps  no  other  body,  except  the  priesthood 
of  Amon,  held  them  down  to  ancient  conven¬ 
tionalities.  But  while  the  king  and  his  court 
made  merry  and  amused  themselves  in  sumptuous 
fashion,  that  god  Amon  and  his  representatives 
towered  over  them  like  some  sombre  bogie,  hold¬ 
ing  them  to  a  religion  which  they  considered  to 
be  obsolete,  and  claiming  its  share  of  the  royal 
wealth. 

About  the  time  of  his  marriage  King  Amen- 
ophis  built  a  palace  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
Nile,  on  the  edge  of  the  desert  under  the  Theban 
hills,  and  here  Queen  Tiy  held  her  brilliant  court. 
The  palace  was  a  light  but  roomy  structure  of 
brick  and  costly  woods,  exquisitely  decorated 
with  paintings  on  stucco,  and  embellished  with 
delicate  columns.  Along  one  side  ran  a  balcony 
on  which  were  rugs  and  many-coloured  cushions, 
and  here  the  king  and  queen  could  sometimes 
be  seen  by  their  subjects.  Gardens  surrounded 


32 


PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 


the  palace,  almost  at  the  gates  of  which  rose 
the  splendid  hills.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the 
building  the  king  later  constructed  a  huge 
pleasure-lake  especially  for  the  amusement  of 
Tiy.  The  mounds  of  earth  which  were  thrown 
up  during  its  excavation  were  purposely  formed 
into  irregular  hills,  these  being  covered  with 
trees  and  flowers  ;  and  here  the  queen  floated 
in  her  barge,  which,  in  honour  of  the  Heliopolitan 
god,  she  called  “  Aton-gleams.” 

The  name  Aton  perhaps  had  some  remote 
Syrian  connection.  The  setting  sun  as  we  have 
seen,  was  called  in  Egypt  Atum,  which  was 
perhaps  connected  with  the  Asiatic  Adon  or 
Adonis  ;  and  it  is  now  that  we  first  find  the 
word  Aton  introduced  into  Egypt  as  a  synonym 
of  Ra-Horakhti-Khepera-Atum  of  Heliopolis, 
though  it  had  been  used  for  long  by  the  Egyptians 
as  the  name  of  the  actual  orb  or  disc  of  the  sun. 

>  Presently  we  find  that  one  of  the  Pharaoh's 
regiments  of  soldiers  is  named  after  this  god 
Aton,  and  here  and  there  the  word  now  occurs 
upon  the  monuments.  Thus,  gradually,  the 
court  was  bringing  a  new-named  deity  into 
prominence,  closely  related  to  the  gods  of  Helio- 

X  polis ;  and  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  priest¬ 
hood  of  Amon  watched  the  development  with 
considerable  perturbation.  The  Pharaoh  himself 
does  not  appear  to  have  worried  veiy  considerably 


Site  of  the  palace  of  Akhnaton’s  Parents,  at  Thebes 

{See  page  ji) 


. 


J'* 


. 


AMENOPHIS  III  AND  HIS  COURT 


33 


with  regard  to  these  religious  matters.  He  was, 
it  seems,  a  man  addicted  to  pleasure,  whose 
interests  lay  as  much  in  the  hunting-field  as  in 
the  palace.  He  loved  to  boast  that  during  the 
first  ten  years  of  his  reign  he  had  slain  102  lions  ; 
but  as  he  was  a  mere  boy  when  he  first  indulged 
in  this  form  of  sport,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
his  nobles  assisted  him  handsomely  in  the 
slaughter  on  each  occasion.  In  one  day  he  is 
reported  to  have  killed  fifty-six  wild  cattle,  and 
a  score  more  fell  to  him  a  few  days  later ;  but 
here  again  one  may  suppose  that  the  glory  and 
not  the  deed  was  his. 

In  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign  he  led  an 
expedition  into  the  Sudan  to  chastise  some  tribe 
which  had  rebelled,  and  he  records  with  pride 
the  slaughter  which  he  had  made.  It  is  stated 
that  these  negroes  "  had  been  haughty,  and 
great  things  were  in  their  hearts ;  but  the  fierce¬ 
eyed  lion,  this  prince,  he  slew  them  by  the  com¬ 
mand  of  Amon-Atum.,,  It  is  interesting  to 
notice  that  Atum  is  thus  brought  into  equal 
prominence  with  Amon,  and  one  may  see  from 
this  the  trend  of  public  opinion. 

At  this  time  the  Vizir,  a  certain  Ptahmose, 
held  also  the  office  of  High  Priest  of  Amon  ; 
but  when  he  died  he  was  not  succeeded  in  his 
duties  as  Vizir  by  the  new  head  of  the  Amon 
priesthood,  as  was  to  be  expected.  The  Pharaoh 


34  PARENTS  AND  GRANDPARENTS  OF  AKHNATON 

appointed  a  noble  named  Ramose  as  his  prime 
minister,  and  thus  separated  the  civil  and  the 
religious  power  :  a  step  which  again  shows  us 
something  of  the  movement  which  was  steadily 
diminishing  the  power  of  Amon. 

Queen  Tiy  seems  to  have  borne  several 
daughters  to  the  king,  and  it  is  possible  that 
she  had  also  presented  him  with  a  son.  But, 
if  this  is  so,  he  had  died  in  early  childhood,  and 
no  heir  to  the  throne  was  now  living.  It  may 
have  been  partly  due  to  this  fact  that  Amenophis, 
in  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  married  the  Princess 
Kirgipa  or  Gilukhipa,  daughter  of  the  King  of 
Mitanni,  and  probably  niece  of  the  Dowager- 
Queen  Mutemua.1  The  princess  came  to  Egypt 
in  considerable  state,  bringing  with  her  317 
ladies-in- waiting  ;  but  she  seems  to  have .  been 
thrust  into  the  background  by  Tiy,  who,  even 
in  the  official  record  of  the  marriage,  is  called 
the  king’s  chief  wife.  The  marriage  may  have 
been  purely  political,  as  was  that  of  Thutmosis 
IV ;  and  there  is  certainly  no  record  of  any 
children  born  to  Gilukhipa.  She  and  her  ladies 
but  added  a  further  foreign  element  to  the  life 
of  the  palace,  and  swelled  the  numbers  of  those 
who  had  no  sympathy  with  the  old  gods  of 
Thebes. 

It  must  have  been  somewhere  about  the  year 


«  Breasted,  Records,  ii.  865,  note  h. 


AMENOPHIS  III  AND  HIS  COURT 


35 


1390  b.c.  that  Tiy’s  aged  father,  Yuaa,  died  ; 
and  Tuau  soon  followed  him  to  the  grave.  They 
were  buried  in  a  fine  sepulchre  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  Thebes ;  and  if  they 
are  not  to  be  considered  as  royal,  this  will  have 
been  the  first  ‘time  that  persons  not  of  royal 
blood  had  been  buried  in  a  tomb  of  large  size 
in  this  valley.  A  quantity  of  funeral  furniture 
was  placed  around  the  splendid  coffins  in  which 
their  mummies  lay,  and  amongst  this  there  were 
a  few  objects  which  evidently  had  been  presented 
by  the  bereaved  king  and  queen  and  by  the 
young  princesses,  Setamon  and  another  whose 
name  is  now  lost.  Yuaa  and  his  wife  had  evi¬ 
dently  been  much  beloved  at  the  court,  and  as 
the  parents  of  the  reigning  queen  they  had  com¬ 
manded  the  respect  of  all  men.  To  us  they  are 
remarkable  as  the  grandparents  of  that  great 
teacher,  Akhnaton,  whose  birth  has  now  to  be 
recorded. 


36 


II 

THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS 
OF  AKHNATON 


i.  THE  BIRTH  OF  AKHNATON 

It  has  been  seen  that  Queen  Tiy  presented 
several  children  to  the  king  ;  but  it  was  not 
until  they  had  reigned  some  twenty-five  years 
or  so  that  the  future  monarch  was  born.  As 
the  years  had  passed  the  queen  must  have  grown 
more  and  more  anxious  for  a  son,  and  many 
must  have  been  the  prayers  she  offered  up  that 
a  male  child  might  be  vouchsafed  to  her.  In 
Egypt  at  the  present  day  the  desire  to  bear 
a  son  holds  dominion  in  the  heart  of  every  \mung 
woman  ;  and  those  to  whom  this  privilege  has 
not  been  granted  forsake  the  laws  of  the  Prophet 
and  still  lay  their  passionate  appeal  before  the 
old  gods.  The  present  writer  was  once  asked 
by  a  young  peasant  to  allow  his  wife  to  walk 
round  the  outer  wall  of  an  ancient  temple,  in 
order  that  she  might  perchance  bear  a  male 
child  thereafter  ;  and  on  another  occasion  three 


THE  BIRTH  OF  AKHNATON 


37 


young  women  were  seen  sliding  down  the  plinth 
of  an  overturned  statue  of  Rameses  the  Great 
for  the  same  purpose.  With  similar  emotion, 
though  with  greater  intelligence,  Queen  Tiy  must 
have  turned  in  her  grief  from  one  god  to  another, 
promising  them  all  manner  of  gifts  if  they  would 
grant  her  desire.  To  Ra-Horakhti  Aton  she 
appears  to  have  turned  with  the  utmost  confi¬ 
dence  ;  and  perhaps,  as  will  presently  be  seen, 
she  vowed  that  if  a  son  were  granted  to  her  she 
would  dedicate  him  to  the  service  of  that  god. 

It  is  probable  that  the  little  prince  first  saw 
the  light  in  the  royal  palace  at  Thebes,  whicii 
was  situated  on  the  edge  of  the  desert  at  the 
foot  of  the  western  hills.  It  was,  as  has  been 
said,  an  extensive  building,  lightly  constructed 
and  gaily  decorated.  The  ceilings  and  pave¬ 
ments  of  its  halls  were  fantastically  painted 
with  scenes  of  animal  life ;  wild  cattle  ran 
through  reedy  swamps  beneath  the  royal  feet, 
and  there  many-coloured  fish  swam  in  the  water  ; 
while  overhead,  flights  of  pigeons,  white  against 
a  blue  sky,  passed  across  the  hall,  and  wild  duck 
hastened  towards  the  open  casements.  Through 
curtained  doorways  one  might  obtain  glimpses 
of  the  garden  planted  with  flowers  foreign  to 
Egypt ;  and  on  the  east  of  the  palace  shone 
the  great  pleasure-lake,  surrounded  by  the  trees 
of  Asia. 


38  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKKNATON 

In  all  the  world  there  are  few  places  more 
beautiful  than  the  site  of  this  palace.  Here  one 
may  sit  for  many  an  hour  watching  the  changing 
colours  on  the  wonderful  cliffs,  the  pink  and 
the  yellow  of  the  rocks  standing  out  from  the 
blue  and  the  purple  of  the  deep  shadows.  In 
the  fields  which  now  surround  the  mined  palace, 
where  the  royal  gardens  were  laid  out,  one  obtains 
an  impression  of  colour,  of  beauty,  and  of  gaiety 
— if  it  can  be  so  expressed — which  is  not  easily 
equalled.  The  continuous  sunshine  and  the 
bracing  wind  render  one  intensely  awake  to 
natural  joys ;  and  here,  indeed,  was  a  fitting 
birthplace,  one  feels,  for  a  king  who  taught  his 
people  to  study  the  beauties  of  nature. 


2.  THE  RISE  OF  ATON 

The  little  prince  was  named  Amenhotep,1  or, 
as  the  later  Greeks  transcribed  it,  Amenophis 
“  the  Peace-of-Amon,”  after  his  father ;  but 
though  the  supremacy  of  Amon  was  thus 
acknowledged,  the  Heliopolitan  deity  appears 
to  have  been  considered  as  the  protector  of  the 
young  boy.  While  the  luxurious  court  rejoiced 
at  the  birth  of  their  future  king,  one  feels  that 
the  ancient  priesthood  of  Amon-Ra  must  have 
looked  askance  at  the  baby  who  was  destined 
one  day  to  be  their  master.  This  priesthood 

1  He  took  the  name  Akhnaton  in  about  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign. 


THE  RISE  OF  ATON 


39 


still  demanded  implicit  obedience  to  its  stiff  and 
ancient  conventions,  and  it  refused  to  recognise 
the  growing  tendency  towards  religious  speculation. 

Probably  stronger  measures  would  have  been 
taken  by  it  to  resist  the  growing  power  of  Ra- 
Horakhti,  had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  Ra 
was  also  a  form  of  Amon,  and  had  been  identified 
with  him  under  the  name  of  Amon- R a.  The 
god  Amon  was  originally  but  the  local  deity  of 
Thebes ;  and,  when  the  Theban  Pharaohs  of 
the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  had  elevated  him  to 
the  position  of  the  state  god  of  all  Egypt,  they 
made  him  acceptable  to  the  various  provinces, 
as  we  have  seen,  by  pointing  to  his  identification 
with  Ra,  the  sun-god,  who,  under  one  form  or 
another,  found  a  place  in  every  temple  and  held 
high  rank  in  every  variety  of  mythology.  As 
Amon-Ra  he  was  able  to  be  appreciated  by  the 
sun- worshippers  of  Syria  and  by  those  of  Nubia, 
for  there  were  few  races  who  would  not  do  homage 
to  the  great  giver  of  warmth  arid  light. 

It  is  possible  that  those  more  thoughtful 
members  of  the  court  who  were  quietly  attempt¬ 
ing  to  undermine  the  influence  of  the  priesthood 
of  Amon,  and  who  were  beginning  to  carry  into 
execution  the  schemes  of  emancipation  which 
we  have  already  noticed,  now  endeavoured  to 
strip  Amon  of  his  association  with  the  sun  ;  for 
that  identity  was  really  his  simple  claim  to 


40 


THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 


acceptance  by  any  but  Thebans.  The  priesthood, 
on  their  part,  it  may  be  supposed,  drew  as  much 

attention  as  possible  to  the  connection  of  their 

+■ 

deity  with  Ra ;  for  they  knew  that  none  but 
the  Heliopolitan  god  could  be  advanced  with 
success  as  a  rival  of  Amon  by  those  who  desired 
to  overthrow  the  Theban  god.  Thus  one  finds 
that  the  High  Priest  of  Ra  at  Heliopolis  was 
given,  and  was  perhaps  obliged  to  accept,  the 
honorary  office  of  Second  Priest  of  Amon  at 
Thebes,1  which  at  once  placed  him  under  the 
thumb  of  the  Theban  High  Priest.  The  pro¬ 
pounders  of  the  new  thought,  however,  met 
this  move  by  bringing  into  greater  prominence 
the  claims,  not  of  Ra-Horakhti,  but  of  Aton, 
which  was  merely  a  more  elusive  form  of  the 
sun-god.  The  priesthood  of  Amon  had  always 
checked  the  individual  growth  of  Ra-Horakhti 
by  regarding  him  simply  as  an  aspect  of  Ra, 
and  hence  of  Amon-Ra.  One  of  the  essential 
features  of  the  new  movement  was  the  regarding 
of  Ra  as  an  aspect  of  Ra-Horakhti,  and  the 
calling  of  Ra-Horakhti  by  the  uncontaminated 
name  of  Aton.  Aton,  in  fact,  was  originally 
introduced  into  the  matter  largely  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  preventing  any  identification  between 
Amon-Ra  and  Ra-Horakhti.  Soon  the  name 

*  His  statue  is  at  Turin.  See  also  Erraan,  “  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt," 
p.  297. 


Coffin  of  Yuaa 
(See  Page  35) 


« 


? 


I 


: 


THE  RISE  OF  ATON 


41 


of  Aton,  entirely  supplanting  that  of  Atum, 
was  heard  with  some  frequency  at  Thebes  and 
elsewhere,  but  always,  it  must  be  remembered 
as  another  word  for  Ra-Horakhti. 

The  desire  of  the  court  for  a  change  in  religion 
is  understandable.  The  cult  of  the  god  Anion, 
as  has  been  said,  was  so  hedged  about  with 
conventionalities  that  free  thought  was  impossible. 
We  have  seen,  however,  that  the  upper  classes 
were  passing  through  a  phase  of  religious  specula¬ 
tion,  and  they  were  ready  to  revolt  against  the 
domination  of  a  priesthood  which  forbade 
criticism.  The  worship  of  the  intangible  power 
of  the  sun,  under  the  name  of  Aton,  offered 
endless  possibilities  for  the  exercise  of  those 
tendencies  towards  the  abstract  which  were  now 
beginning  to  be  felt  ail  over  the  civilised  world. 
This  was  man’s  first  age  of  philosophical  thought, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  history  the  gods  were 
being  endued  with  ideal  qualities. 

Apart  from  all  questions  of  religion,  the  priest¬ 
hood  of  Amon  had  obtained  such  power  and 
wealth  that  it  was  a  very  serious  menace  to  the 
dignity  of  the  throne.  The  great  organisation 
which  had  its  headquarters  at  Kamak  had  be¬ 
come  an  incubus  which  weighed  heavily  upon 
the  state.  For  political  reasons  alone,  therefore, 
it  was  desirable  to  push  the  priests  of  Heliopolis 
into  a  more  prominent  position. 


42  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

There  was,  moreover,  a  third  consideration. 
The  Aton,  with  which  Ra  and  Ra-Horakhti  were 
now  being  identified,  being  a  solar  deity  of 
universal  and  not  local  aspect,  was  likely  to  make 
a  wide  appeal.  Thus  the  propounders  of  the 
new  doctrines  must  have  dreamt  of  an  Egypto- 
Syrian  empire  bound  together  by  the  ties  of 
a  common  religion.  With  one  god  understood 
and  worshipped  from  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile 
to  the  distant  Euphrates,  what  power  could 
destroy  the  empire  ? 

In  passing,  an  interesting  suggestion  may  here 
be  made,  though  in  our  present  paucity  of  in¬ 
formation,  the  subject  cannot  be  pursued  very 
far.  This  Aton  worship  as  will  be  seen  in  the 
following  pages,  developed  into  an  exalted 
monotheism,  and  it  originated  in  Heliopolis.  Now 
Heliopolis  is  the  ancient  On,  where  Moses  learnt 
all  “  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  ”  ;  and  thus 
there  may  be  some  connection  between  the 
Jewish  faith  and  that  of  the  Aton. 

3.  THE  POWER  OF  QUEEN  TIY 

In  Amenophis  III  one  may  see  the  lazy,  specu¬ 
lative  Oriental,  too  opinionated  and  too  vain 
to  bear  with  the  stiff  routine  of  his  fathers,  and 
yet  too  lacking  in  energy  to  formulate  a  new 
religion.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  every 


THE  POWER  OF  QUEEN  TIY 


43 


reason  to  suppose  that  Queen  Tiy  possessed  the 
ability  to  impress  the  claims  of  the  new  thought 
upon  her  husband’s  mind,  and  gradually  to  turn 
his  e}/es,  and  those  of  the  court,  away  from  the 
sombre  worship  of  Amon  into  the  direction  of 
the  brilliant  cult  of  the  sun.  Those  who  have 
travelled  in  Egypt  will  realise  how  completely 
the  land  is  dominated  by  the  sun.  The  blue 
skies,  the  shining  rocks,  the  golden  desert,  the 
verdant  fields,  all  seem  to  cry  out  for  joy  of  the 
sunshine.  The  extraordinary  energy  which  one 
may  feel  in  Egypt  at  sunrise,  and  the  deep 
melancholy  which  sometimes  accompanies  the 
red  nightfall,  must  have  been  felt  by  Tiy  also 
in  her  palace  at  Thebes. 

As  the  years  passed,  the  power  and  influence 
of  Queen  Tiy  increased  ;  and  now  that  she  had 
borne  a  son  to  the  king  there  was  added  to  her 
great  position  as  royal  wife  the  equally  great 
role  of  royal  mother.  Never  before  had  a  queen 
been  so  freely  represented  on  all  the  king’s  monu¬ 
ments,  nor  had  so  fine  a  series  of  titles  been  given 
before  to  the  wife  of  a  Pharaoh.  At  Serdenga, 
far  up  in  the  Sudan,  her  husband  erected  a  temple 
for  her  ;  and  in  distant  Sinai  a  beautiful  portrait 
head  of  her  was  recently  found.  All  visitors  to 
Thebes  have  seen  her  figure  by  the  side  of  the 
legs  of  the  two  great  colossi  at  the  edge  of  the 
Western  Desert ;  and  the  huge  statues  of  herself 


44  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

and  her  husband,  now  in  the  Cairo  Museum, 
will  have  been  seen  by  those  who  have  visited 
that  collection.  Of  Gilukhipa,1  however,  and 
the  king’s  other  wives,  one  hears  nothing  at  all : 
Queen  Tiy  relegated  them  to  the  background 
almost  before  their  marriage  ceremonies  were  over. 

By  the  time  that  Amenophis  III  had  reigned 
for  thirty  years  or  so,  he  had  ceased  to  give 
much  attention  to  state  affairs,  and  the  power 
had  almost  entirely  passed  into  the  capable 
hands  of  Tiy.  Already  an  influence,  which  we 
may  presume  to  have  been  to  a  large  extent 
hers,  was  being  felt  in  many  directions :  Ra- 
Horakhti  and  Aton  were  being  brought  into 
the  foreground,  a  tone  of  thought  which  can 
hardly  be  regarded  as  purely  Egyptian  was  being 
developed,  the  art  was  undergoing  modifications 
and  had  risen  to  a  pitch  of  excellence  never 
attained  before  or  after.  The  exquisite  low- 
reliefs  of  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Amenophis  III — 
for  example,  those  to  be  seen  at  Thebes  in  the 
tombs  of  Khaemhet  and  of  Ramose,2  both  of 
which  are  definitely  dated  to  the  close  of  the 
reign — stir  one  almost  as  do  the  works  of  the  early 
Florentine  masters.  There  is  an  elusive  grace 
in  the  dainty  figures  there  sculptured,  which, 
through  another  medium  and  under  other  laws 

1  Page  34. 

2  Discovered  by  the  present  writer  whilst  repairing  this  tomb. 


akhnaton’s  marriages 


45 


of  convention,  cause  them  to  appeal  with  the 
same  force  of  indefinable  sweetness  as  do  the 
figures  in  the  works  of  Filipino  Lippi  and 
Botticelli,  In  the  mass  of  Egyptian  painting 
and  sculpture  of  secondary  importance  such 
gems  as  these  have  been  overlooked  and  have 
not  been  appreciated  by  the  public  ;  but  the 
present  writer  ventures  to  think  that  some  day 
they  will  set  the  heart  of  all  art-lovers  dancing 
as  danced  those  of  Queen  Tiy’s  great  masters. 

The  court  in  which  the  little  prince  passed  his 
earliest  years  was  more  brilliant  than  ever  it 
had  been  before,  and  Queen  Tiy  presided  over 
scenes  of  indescribable  splendour.  Amenophis 
III.  has  been  truly  called  “  the  Magnificent  ”  ; 
and  at  no  period,  save  that  of  Thutmosis  III, 
were  the  royal  treasuries  so  full  or  the  nobles  so 
wealthy.  Out  of  a  pageant  of  festivities,  from 
amidst  the  noise  of  song  and  laughter,  the  little 
sad-eyed  prince  first  emerges  on  to  the  stage  of 
history,  led  by  the  hand  of  Queen  Tiy  ;  but  as 
he  appears  before  us,  above  the  clink  of  the 
golden  wine-bowls,  above  the  sound  of  the 
timbrels,  one  seems  to  hear  the  lilt  of  a  more 
simple  song,  and  the  peaceful  singing  of  a  lark. 

4.  AKHNATON'S  MARRIAGES 

During  the  last  years  of  his  reign  the  Pharaoh, 
although  well  under  fifty  years  of  age,1  seems 


46  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

to  have  suffered  from  permanent  ill-health.1  On 
two  occasions  the  King  of  Mitanni  sent  to  Egypt 
a  miracle-working  statue  of  the  goddess  Ishtar, 
apparently  in  the  hope  that  Amenophis  might 
be  cured  of  his  illness  by  it.  It  is  probable  that 
the  king  had  never  been  a  very  strong  man. 
Having  been  born  when  his  father — himself 
extremely  delicate — was  but  a  child,  he  had 
had  little  chance  of  enjoying  a  robust  middle- 
age,  and  he  passed  on  to  his  children  this  in¬ 
herent  weakness.  One  hears  no  more  of  his 
daughters,2  whom  we  have  seen  mourning  for 
their  grandparents  Yuaa  and  Tuau,  and  there 
is  some  likelihood  that  they  died  young.  The 
little  Prince  Amenophis  was  already  developing 
constitutional  weaknesses  which  rendered  his 
life  very  precarious.  His  skull  was  misshapen, 
and  he  must  have  been  subject  to  occasional 
epileptic  fits.  And  now  Queen  Tiy  gave  birth 
to  a  daughter,  who  was  named  Baketaton  in 
honour  of  the  new  god,  and  who  seems  to  have 
lived  less  than  a  score  of  years,  since  nothing 
more  is  heard  of  her  after  her  twelfth  or  thirteenth 
year. 

As  Amenophis  III,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  or 
forty-nine,  felt  his  end  approaching,  he  must 

1  His  mummy  is  that  of  a  man  of  not  more  than  fifty. 

2  The  wise  man  Amenophis-son-of-Hapu  was  steward  of  Princess 
Setamon’s  estate,  but  this  may  have  been  previous  to  her  mention 
in  her  grandparents’  tomb. 


akhnaton's  marriages  47 

have  experienced  considerable  anxiety  in  regard 
to  the  succession.  Here  was  his  only  son — now 
a  boy  of  eleven  or  twelve  years  of  age — in  so  sad 
a  state  of  health  that  he  could  not  be  expected 
to  live  to  manhood,  and  in  the  event  of  his 
death  the  throne  would  be  without  an  occupant 
in  the  direct  line.  Obviously  it  was  necessary 
that  Nhe  should  be  married  soon,  in  order  that 
he  might  become  a  father  as  early  as  that  was 
naturally  possible.  Amenophis  III  himself  had 
been  married  to  Tiy  when  he  was  about  twelve 
years  of  age,  and  his  father  Thutmosis  IV  had 
likewise  been  married  at  that  early  age.1  The 
little  Prince  Amenophis  should,  therefore,  also 
be  given  a  wife  at  once ;  and  the  Pharaoh  now 
began  to  look  around  for  a  suitable  consort  for 
him.  He  had  heard  that  Dushratta,  King  of 
Mitanni,  had  a  small  daughter  who  was  said 
to  be  a  comely  maiden  ;  and  there  were  many 
political  reasons  for  proposing  the  union. 
Mitanni  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  buffer  state 
between  the  Pharaoh's  Syrian  possessions  and 
the  lands  of  the  Hittites  and  of  the  Mesopota¬ 
mians.  Thutmosis  IV  had  asked  a  bride  from 
Mitanni,  and  Amenophis  III  himself  had  obtained 
Gilukhipa  from  thence,  if  not  Queen  Tiy  also  ; 
both  these  being  probably  political  matches, 
designed  for  the  welfare  of  the  Syrian  empire. 

*  Page  95. 


48 


THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 


The  Pharaoh  therefore  decided  upon  this  marriage 
for  his  Jckly  son,  and  sent  an  embassy  to  Dush- 
ratta  to  negotiate  the  union  between  these  two 
children. 

The  reply  of  Dushratta  has,  fortunately,  been 
preserved  to  us.  The  Mitannian  king  acknow¬ 
ledges  the  arrival  of  the  envoy,  and  is  much 
rejoiced  at  this  further  binding  together  of  the 
two  countries.  In  a  subsequent  letter  it  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  the  princess  has  already  been  sent  to 
Egypt,  and  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  Prince 
Amenophis  has  at  once  been  married  to  her. 
v  The  little  princess  was  named  Tadukhipa,  but 
after  her  arrival  in  Egypt  we  hear  no  more  of  her, 
and  it  is  probable  that  she  died  at  an  early 
age. 

Prince  Amenophis  was  then,  it  seems,  married 
to  a  young  Egyptian  girl  named  Nefertiti,  who 
ultimately  became  his  queen.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  a  noble  named  Ay,  who  later  was 
always  known  as  “  Father-in-law  of  the  King,” 
a  title  which,  until  Dr.  Borehardt  pointed  out 
its  true  meaning,  had  always  been  mistranslated 
Divine  Father  ”  and  regarded  as  of  religious 
significance.  This  Ay  was  married  to  a  lady 
called  Ty,  but  Nefertiti  seems  to  have  been  the 
daughter  of  an  earlier  wife ;  for  Ty  is  spoken 
of  as  “  great  nurse  and  nourisher  ”  of  Nefertiti 
and  not  as  her  mother. 


Carved  Wooden  Chair,  the  designs  partly  covered  with 
gold-leaf,  found  in  the  Tomb  of  Yuaa 

( See  page  35) 


Chest  belonging  to  Yuaa  found  in  his  Tomb 
( See  page  35) 


akhnaton's  marriages 


49 


It  has  generally  been  thought  that  Nefertiti 
and  Tadukhipa  were  to  be  identified  and  that 
Ay  and  Ty  were  the  foster  parents  of  this  foreign 
princess  ;  but  there  is  far  more  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  fact  is  as  here  stated,  and  that  Nefertiti 
was  an  Egyptian  girl  who  was  married  to  the 
Prince  after  the  death  of  Tadukhipa.  This  is 
confirmed  by  the  finding  of  a  portrait  head  of 
a  queen,  which,  by  the  style  of  the  work  and  the 
shape  of  the  crown,  can  only  be  that  of  Nefertiti, 
and  yet  which  shows  a  woman  of  marked  Egyptian 
and  not  of  foreign  physiognomy.1  Nefertiti  was 
probably  two  or  three  years  younger  than  the 
Prince,  for  her  first  child  was  not  bom  until 
nearly  five  years  later,  and  Egyptian  girls  are 
usually  mothers  by  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen. 

Soon  after  these  events  the  court  was  thrown 
into  mourning  by  the  death  of  Amenophis  “’the 
Magnificent/ 1  which  occurred  in  the  thirty-sixth 
year  of  his  reign.  Queen  Tiy  at  once  assumed 
control  of  state  affairs  on  behalf  of  her  twelve 
or  thirteen-year-old  son,  who  as  Amenophis  IV 
now  ascended  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs,  with 
Nefertiti  as  his  queen. 

1  This  head  is  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  and  photographs  have 
not  yet  been  issued.  In  the  tomb  made  for  this  Ay  at  El  Amarna 
there  is  an  inscription  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  Queen  and  prays 
that  she  may  remain  by  Akhnaton’s  side  for  ever  and  ever.  He 
speaks  of  her  beauty,  her  sweet  voice,  her  “  two  beautiful  hands," 
and  so  on. 


F 


50  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

5.  THE  ACCESSION  OF  AKHNATON 

On  coming  to  the  throne  the  young  king  fixed 
his  titulary  in  the  following  manner  : — 

Mighty  Bull,  Lofty  of  Plumes ;  Favourite  of  the 
Two  Goddesses,  Great  in  Kingship  in  Karnak  ; 
Golden  Hawk,  Wearer  of  Diadems  in  the  Southern 
Heliopolis ;  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
Beautiful-is-the-Being-of-Ra,  the  Only-One-of-Ra ; 
Son  of  the  Sun,  Peace-of-Amon  (Amenophis),  Divine 
Ruler  of  Thebes ;  Great  in  Duration,  Living  for 
Ever  and  Ever,  Beloved  of  Amon-Ra,  Lord  of  Heaven. 

These  titles  were  drawn  up  on  more  or  less 
prescribed  lines,  and  conformed  to  the  old  custom 
of  the  Pharaohs.  Like  his  ancestors,  he  was 
called  “  Beloved  of  Amon-Ra,”  although,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  power  of  that  god  was  already 
much  undermined.  To  counterbalance  this  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  god  of  Thebes,  however,  one  finds 
the  surprising  title — 

High  Priest  of  Ra-Horakhti,  rejoicing  in  the  horizon 
in  his  name,  “  Heat-which-is-in-Aton.” 

Let  the  boy  be  said  to  be  beloved  of  Amon-Ra 
till  the  walls  of  Thebes  reverberate  with  the  cry  ; 
let  Amon-Ra  be  called  Lord  of  Heaven  till  the 
priestly  heralds  can  shout  no  more  :  the  doom  of 
the  god  of  Thebes  cannot  now  be  averted,  for 
the  reigning  Pharaoh  is  dedicated  to  another  god. 

It  is  obvious  that  a  boy  of  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  of  age  could  not  himself  have  claimed  the 


THE  ACCESSION  OF  AKHNATON 


51 


office  of  the  High  Priest  of  Ra-Horakhti.  Queen 
Tiy  and  her  advisers  must  have  deliberately 
endowed  the  youthful  king  with  this  office, 
largely  in  order  to  set  the  seal  upon  the  fate  of 
Amon.  There  were,  perhaps,  other  reasons  why 
this  remarkable  step  was  decided  upon.  It  may 
be,  as  has  been  said,  that  the  queen,  before  the 
birth  of  her  son,  had  vowed  him  to  Ra-Horakhti. 
Again,  the  boy  was  epileptic,  was  subject  to 
hallucinations ;  and  it  may  be  that  while  in 
this  condition  he  had  seen  visions  or  uttered 
words  which  led  his  mother  to  believe  him  to 
be  the  chosen  one  of  the  Heliopolitan  god,  whose 
name  the  prince  must  have  been  constantly 
hearing.  In  a  palace  where  the  mystical  “  Heat- 
which-is-in-Aton,”  which  was  the  new  elabora¬ 
tion  of  the  god's  name,  was  being  daily  invoked, 
and  where  the  youthful  master  of  Egypt  was 
occasionally  falling  into  what  appeared  to  be 
holy  frenzy,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  rising 
deity  would  be  connected  with  the  eccentricities 
of  the  young  Pharaoh.  The  High  Priest  of 
Ra-Horakhti  was  always  called  “  The  Great  of 
Visions,"  and  was  thus  essentially  a  visionary 
prophet  either  by  nature  or  by  circumstance ; 
and  the  unfortunate  boy’s  physical  condition 
may  have  been  turned,  thus,  to  account  in  the 
struggle  against  Amon-Ra. 

One  may  imagine  now  the  Pharaoh  as  a  pale, 


52  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

sickly  youth.  His  head  seemed  too  large  for 
his  body  ;  his  eyelids  were  heavy  ;  his  eyes  were 
eloquent  of  dreams.  His  features  were  delicately 
moulded,  and  his  mouth,  in  spite  of  a  somewhat 
protruding  lower  jaw,  is  reminiscent  of  the  best 
of  the  art  of  Rossetti.  He  seems  to  have  been 
a  quiet,  studious  boy,  whose  thoughts  wandered 
in  fair  places,  searching  for  that  happiness  which 
his  physical  condition  had  denied  to  him.  His 
nature  was  gentle ;  his  young  heart  overflowed 
with  love.  He  delighted,  it  would  seem,  to  walk 
in  the  gardens  of  the  palace,  to  hear  the  birds 
singing,  to  watch  the  fish  in  the  lake,  to  smell  the 
flowers,  to  follow  butterflies,  to  warm  his  small 
bones  in  the  sunshine.  Already  he  was  some¬ 
times  called  “  Lord  of  the  Breath  of  Sweetness  ”  ; 1 
and  already,  perhaps,  he  was  so  much  beloved 
by  his  subjects  that  their  adherence  to  him 
through  the  rough  places  of  his  future  life  was 
assured.  For  the  first  years  of  his  reign  he  was, 
of  course,  entirely  under  the  regency  of  his 
mother.  Dushratta,  the  King  of  Mitanni,  writing 
to  congratulate  the  boy  on  his  accession,  addressed 
himself  to  Queen  Tiy,  as  though  he  thought 
the  king  would  hardly  yet  be  able  to  understand 
a  letter ;  and  in  a  later  communication  he  asks 
the  Pharaoh  to  inquire  of  his  mother  as  to  certain 

1  Scarabs  of  the  early  period  are  sometimes  inscribed  Neb-nef-nezem 
which  has  this  meaning. 


THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON’S  REIGN  53 

matters  of  international  policy.  But  although 
so  young,  the  king  was  wise  beyond  his  years, 
as  the  reader  will  presently  see. 

6.  THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON’S 

REIGN 

In  a  subsequent  chapter  it  will  be  the  writer's 
purpose  to  show  to  what  heights  of  ideal  thought, 
and  to  what  profundities  of  religious  and  moral 
philosophy,  this  boy,  in  the  years  of  his  early 
manhood,  attained ;  and  it  will  but  enhance  our 
respect  for  his  abilities  when  he  reached  maturity, 
if  we  find  in  his  early  training  all  manner  of 
shortcomings.  The  beautiful  doctrines  of  the 
religion  with  which  this  Pharaoh's  name  is  identi¬ 
fied  were  productions  of  his  later  days  ;  and  until 

) 

he  was  at  least  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of 
age  neither  his  exalted  monotheism  nor  any  of 
his  future  principles  were  really  apparent.  Some 
time  after  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  one  finds 
that  he  had  evolved  a  religion  so  pure  that  one 
must  compare  it  with  Christianity  in  order  to 
discover  its  faults ;  and  the  reader  will  presently 
see  that  the  superb  theology  was  not  derived 
from  his  education. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  king's  reign,  under¬ 
taken  at  the  desire  of  Queen  Tiy  or  of  the  royal 
advisers,  was  the  completion  of  a  temple  to 


54 


THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 


Ra-Horakhti  Aton  at  Karnak,1  which  was  prob¬ 
ably  begun  by  Amenophis  III.  This  was  in  no 
way  an  insult  to  Amon,  for  Thutmosis  III  and 
other  Pharaohs  had  dedicated  temples  at  Kamak 
to  gods  other  than  Amon.  The  priesthood  of 
Amon-Ra  recognised  the  existence  of  the  many 
deities  of  Egypt,  and  gave  them  their  place  in 
the  constitution  of  heaven,  reserving  for  their 
own  god  the  title  of  “  King  of  the  Gods.”  There 
was  a  temple  of  Ptah  here  ;  there  were  shrines 
set  apart  for  the  worship  of  Min  ;  and  other 
gods,  unconnected  with  Amon,  were  here  accom¬ 
modated.  The  priests  of  Amon-Ra  thus  could 
not  offer  any  serious  objection  to  the  project. 
The  building2  was  constructed  of  sandstone, 
and  therefore  various  officials  were  dispatched 
to  the  great  quarries  of  Gebel  Silsileh,  which 
lie  on  the  river  between  Edfu  and  Korn  Ombo, 
and  to  those  near  Esneh.  Large  tablets  were 
there  carved  upon  the  cliffs  towards  the  close 
of  the  work,  and  on  them  the  figure  of  the 
Pharaoh  was  represented  worshipping  Amon, 
who  was  thus  still  the  state  god.  Above  the 
king's  figure,  however,  the  disk  of  the  sun  is 

1  The  date  of  this  work  is  not  exactly  known,  but  on  a  fragment 
now  in  Berlin  there  are  traces  of  the  erased  cartouch  of  Amenophis  III. 
'over  which  the  name  of  Akhnaton  has  been  imposed. 

2  The  word  benben,  “  shrine,”  has  the  hieroglyph  of  an  obelisk  at 
the  end  of  it,  which  has  led  to  some  mistranslations.  Perhaps  the 
temple  was  built  somewhat  on  the  plan  of  that  at  AbusSr,  where  an 
obelisk  stood  in  an  open  court. 


THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON’S  REIGN  55 

seen,  and  from  it  a  number  of  lines,  representing 
rays,  project  downwards  towards  the  royal  figure. 
These  rays  terminate  in  hands,  which  thus  seem 
to  be  distributing  the  “  heat-which-is-in-Aton  ” 
around  the  Pharaoh.  This  is  the  first  representa¬ 
tion  of  the  afterwards  famous  s}/mbol  of  the 
religion  of  Aton,  and  it  is  significant  that  it 
should  make  its  appearance  in  a  scene  repre¬ 
senting  the  worship  of  Amon. 

As  early  as  the  time  of  the  Pyramid  Texts  we 
read  of  the  “  arm  of  the  sun-beams  ”  ;  but  this 
symbol  of  the  new  religion  was  novel,  and 
appears  to  have  been  designed  and  invented  by 
the  young  king  himself. 

The  king  is  called  the  High  Priest  of  Ra- 
Horakhti ;  but  the  title  “  Living  in  truth/’ 
which  he  took  to  himself  in  later  years,  and  which 
had  reference  to  the  religion  of  Aton  which  he 
was  soon  to  evolve,  does  not  yet  appear. 

A  large  number  of  fragments  from  this  shrine 
have  been  discovered,  and  on  these  one  sees 
references  to  the  gods  Homs,  Set,  Wepwat,  and 
others.  The  king  is  still  called  by  the  name 
Amenophis,  which  was  later  banned,  and  the 
names  of  Aton,  afterwards  always  written  within 
the  royal  ovals  or  cartouches,  are  still  lacking 
in  that  distinction.  The  temple  was  called 
“  Aton-is-found-in-the-House-of-Aton,”  a  curious 


56  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

name  of  which  the  meaning  is  not  clear.1 
A  certain  official  named  Hataay  was  “  Scribe 
and  Overseer  of  the  Granary  of  the  House  of 
the  At  on,”  by  which  this  temple  is  probably 
meant ;  and  in  the  tomb  of  Ramose  a  reference 
is  made  to  the  building  by  its  full  name,  and 
a  picture  of  it  is  given,  but  otherwise  one  knows 
little  about  it.  The  rapidity  with  which  it  was 
desired  to  be  set  up  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  great,  well-trimmed  blocks  of  stone  usually 
employed  in  the  construction  of  sacred  buildings 
were  largely  dispensed  with,  and  only  small 
easily-handled  blocks  were  used.  The  imper¬ 
fections  in  the  building  were  then  hidden  by 
a  judicious  use  of  plaster  and  cement,  and  thus 
the  walls  were  smoothed  for  the  reception  of 
the  reliefs.  The  quarter  in  which  the  temple 
stood  was  now  called  “  Brightness  of  Aton  the 
Great,”  and  Thebes  received  the  new  name  of 
“  City  of  the  Brightness  of  Aton.” 

There  are  two  other  monuments  which  date 
from  these  early  years  of  the  king's  reign  :  both 
are  tombs  of  great  nobles.  At  this  period  one 
of  the  greatest  personages  in  the  land  was  the 
above-mentioned  Ramose,  the  Vizir  of  Upper 
Egypt.  This  official  was  now  engaged  in  con¬ 
structing  and  decorating  a  magnificent  sepulchre 
for  himself  in  the  Theban  necropolis.  In  the 

1  It  is  possible  that  "  found  ”  is  a  mistranslation. 


Ceiling  Decoration  from  the  Palace  of  Akhnaton’s  parents, 

at  Thebes 

(See  page  37) 


Pavement  Decoration  from  the  Palace 


(See  page  37) 


THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON'S  REIGN  57 

great  hall  of  this  tomb  the  artists  were  busy 
preparing  the  beautiful  sculptures  and  paintings 
which  were  to  cover  the  walls,  and  ere  half  their 
work  was  finished  they  set  themselves  to  the 
making  of  a  fine  figure  of  Amenophis  IV  seated 
upon  his  throne,  with  the  goddess  Maat  standing 
behind  him.  The  scene  was  probably  executed 
a  few  months  before  the  making  of  the  tablets 
at  the  quarries.  The  sun's  rays  do  not  appear, 
and  the  work  was  carried  out  strictly  according 
to  the  capons  of  art  obtaining  during  the  last 
years  of  Amenophis  III  and  the  first  of  his  son. 
“But  hardly  had  the  figures  been  finished  before 
the  order  came  that  the  Aton  rays  had  to  be 
included,  and  certain  changes  in  the  art  had  to 
be  recognised ;  and  therefore  the  artists  set 
to  work  upon  another  figure  of  the  king  standing 
under  these  many-handed  beams  of  “  heat, 
and  now  accompanied  by  his  as  yet  childless  wife. 

_  i  _ 

The  two  scenes  may  be  seen  by  visitors  to  Thebes 
standing  side  by  side,  and  nowhere  may  the 
contrast  between  the  old  order  of  things  and 
the  new  be  so  clearly  observed. 

While  Ramose  was  providing  a  tomb  for 
himself  at  Thebes,  another  great  noble  named 
Horemheb,  who  ultimately  usurped  the  throne, 
was  constructing  his  sepulchre  at  Sakkarah,  the 
Memphite  necropolis  near  Cairo.  Horemheb  was 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and  in  his 


58  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

tomb  some  superb  reliefs  are  carved  showing 
him  receiving  rewards  in  that  capacity  from  the 
king.  Some  of  the  scenes  represent  the  arrival 
of  Asiatic  refugees  in  Egypt,  who  ask  to  be 
allowed  to  take  up  their  abode  on  the  banks  of 
the  Nile,  and  the  figures  of  these  foreigners  rank 
amongst  the  finest  specimens  of  Egyptian  art. 
In  the  inscriptions,  Horemheb,  who  is  supposed 
to  be  addressing  the  king,  states  that  the 
Pharaoh  owes  his  throne  to  Anion, 1  but  yet  we 
see  that  the  figure  of  the  king  is  drawn  in  that 
style  of  art  which  is  typical  of  the  new  religion.2 

In  the  same  style  the  new  king  is  shovra  upon 
some  damaged  reliefs  in  the  northern  colonnade 
of  the  temple  of  Luxor,  a  building  begun  by 
Arnenophis  III  and  finished  by  Tutankhamen 
and  Horemheb. 

7.  THE  NEW  ART 

This  sudden  change  in  the  style  of  the  reliefs 
which  we  have  observed  in  these  two  tombs 
and  on  the  quarry  tablets  seems  to  be  attributable 
to  about  the  fourth  year  of  the  king's  reign. 
The  reliefs  which  were  now  carved  upon  the 
walls  of  the  new  temple  of  Ra-Horakhti  at 

1  Thus  corresponding  to  the  Silsileh  quarry  tablet,  where  Anion 
is  worshipped. 

2  This  tomb  of  Horemheb  seems  to  have  been  begun  and  finished 
in  the  early  years  of  Akhnaton’s  reign,  to  have  been  left  alone  dur¬ 
ing  the  remainder  of  the  reign,  and  to  have  received  the  addition 


THE  NEW  ART 


59 


Karnak  show  us  a  style  of  art  quite  different 
from  that  of  the  king’s  early  years.  The  figure 
of  the  Pharaoh,  which  the  artists  in  the  tomb 
of  Ramose  represented  as  standing  below  the 
newly-invented  sun’s  rays,  is  entirely  different 
from  the  earlier  figure  there  executed.  The 
young  Pharaoh  whom  we  see  in  the  tomb  of 
Horemheb  and  on  the  quarry  tablets  is  repre¬ 
sented  according  to  canons  of  art  entirely  different 
from  those  existing  at  the  king’s  accession. 

In  the  drawing  of  the  human  figure,  and 
especially  that  of  the  Pharaoh,  there  are  three 
very  distinct  characteristics  in  this  new  style 
of  art.  Firstly,  as  to  the  head  :  the  skull  is 
elongated  ;  the  chin,  as  seen  in  profile,  is  drawn 
as  though  it  were  sharply  pointed  ;  the  flesh 
under  the  jaw  is  skimped,  thus  giving  an  up¬ 
ward  turn  to  the  line  ;  and  the  neck  is  represented 
as  being  long  and  thin.  Secondly,  the  stomach 
is  made  to  obtrude  itself  upon  the  attention 
by  being  drawn  as  though  from  an  ungainly 
model.  And  thirdly,  the  hips  and  thighs  are 
abnormally  large,  though  from  the  knee  down¬ 
wards  the  legs  are  of  more  natural  size.  This 

of  doorposts  (see  note  on  p.  235)  after  the  death  of  Akhnaton.  Frag¬ 
ments  of  the  tomb  are  now  divided  between  Leiden,  Bologna,  Vienna, 
Alexandria,  and  Cairo  ;  and  it  would  seem  that  all  except  those  in 
the  Cairo  museum  (the  doorposts)  are  from  the  earlier  period.  The 
titles  on  the  Cairo  fragments  are  far  more  elaborate  than  those  on 
the  others.  See  Breasted,  Records,  iii.  1  ff. 


60  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

distortion  of  human  anatomy  is  marked  in 
a  lesser  degree  in  all  the  lines  of  the  body  ;  and 
the  whole  figure  becomes  a  startling  type  of 
an  art  which  seems  at  first  to  have  sprung  fully 
developed  from  the  brain  of  the  boy-Pharaoh 
or  from  one  of  the  eccentrics  of  the  court. 

The  king  was  now  seventeen  years  old,  and 
seems  to  have  been  extraordinarily  mature  for 
his  age.  It  may  be  that  he  had  objected  to 
be  represented  in  the  conventional  manner,  and 
had  told  his  artists  to  draw  him  as  he  was.  The 
elongated  skull,  the  pointed  chin,  and  even, 
perhaps,  the  protruding  paunch,  may  thus  have 
originated.  But  the  ungainly  thighs  could  only 
be  accounted  for  by  some  radical  deformity  in 
the  royal  model,  and  yet  that  he  was  a  fairly 
well-made  man  in  this  respect  his  bones  most 
clearly  show. 

Purely  tentatively  a  suggestion  may  here  be 
offered  to  account  for  this  peculiar  treatment  of 
the  human  body.  It  is  probable  that  the  king 
had  now,  in  a  boyish  way,  become  deeply  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  religious  contest  which  was  beginning 
to  be  waged  between  Amon-Ra  and  Ra-Horakhti 
A  ton.  Having  listened  to  the  arguments  on 
both  sides,  it  may  have  occurred  to  him  to  study 
for  himself  the  ancient  documents  and  inscrip¬ 
tions  bearing  on  the  matter.  In  so  doing,  he 
would  have  found  that  Amon  had  become  the 


THE  NEW  ART 


61 


state  god  only  some  few  hundred  years  before 
his  own  time,  and  that  previous  to  his  ascent 
to  this  important  position,  previous  even  to 
the  earliest  mention  of  his  name,  Ra-Horakhti 
had  been  supreme.  Carrying  his  inquiries  back, 
past  the  days  of  the  pyramid-kings  to  the  archaic 
Pharaohs  who  reigned  at  the  dim  beginnings 
of  things,  he  would  still  have  found  the  Helio- 
politan  god  worshipped.  One  of  the  Pharaohs' 
most  cherished  titles  was  “  Son  of  the  Sun," 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  borne  by  each 
successive  sovereign  since  the  days  of  the  Fifth 
Dynasty,  whose  kings  claimed  descent  from  Ra 
himself.  Such  studies  would  inevitably  bring 
two  matters  into  prominence  :  firstly,  that  Amon 
was,  after  all,  but  a  usurper ;  and,  secondly, 
that  as  Pharaoh  he  was  the  descendant  of  Ra- 
Horakhti,  and  was  that  god's  representative  on 
earth. 

On  these  grounds,  more  than  on  any  others, 
all  things  connected  with  Amon  would  become 
distasteful  to  him.  He  was  too  young  to  under¬ 
stand  fully  which  of  the  two  religions  was  the 
better  morally  or  theologically ;  but  he  was 
old  enough  to  be  moved  by  the  romance  of 
history,  and  to  feel  that  those  great,  shadowy 
Pharaohs  who  lived  when  the  world  was  young, 
and  who  at  the  dawn  of  events  worshipped  the 
sun,  were  the  truest  and  best  examples  for  him 


82  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

to  follow.  They  were  his  ancestors,  and  as  they 
were  the  sons  of  Ra,  so  he,  too,  was  the  proud 
descendant  of  that  great  god.  In  his  veins 
there  ran  the  blood  of  the  sun,  that  “  heat- 
which-is-in-Aton  ”  pulsed  through  and  through 
him  ;  and  the  more  he  read  in  those  old  docu¬ 
ments  the  more  he  may  have  been  stirred  by 
the  glory  of  that  distant  past  when  men  wor¬ 
shipped  the  god  whose  rights  Amon  had  usurped. 
Now  the  canons  of  art  were  regarded  as  a  dis¬ 
tinctly  religious  institution,  and  the  methods  of 
treating  the  human  figure  then  in  vogue  had  in 
the  first  place  the  sanction  of  the  priesthood  of 
Amon  ;  and  few  things  would  be  more  upsetting 
to  their  regime  than  the  abandoning  of  these 
canons.  This  was  probably  recognised  by  those 
who  were  furthering  the  cause  of  Ra-Horakhti, 
and  the  young  king  may  have  been  assisted  and 
encouraged  in  his  views.  Presently  it  may  have 
been  brought  home  to  him  that,  since  he  was 
thus  the  representative  of  those  archaic  kings 
and  the  High  Priest  of  their  god,  it  was  fitting 
that  the  canons  acknowledged  by  those  far-off 
ancestors  should  be  recognised  by  him.  Here, 
then,  he  would  both  please  his  own  romantic 
fancy  and  deal  a  blow  at  the  Amon  priesthood  by 
banning  the  art  which  they  upheld,  and  by  infusing 
into  the  sculptures  and  paintings  of  his  time  some¬ 
thing  of  the  spirit  of  the  most  ancient  art  of  Egypt. 


THE  NEW  ART 


63 


v 


In  the  old  temples  of  Heliopolis  and  elsewhere 
a  few  relics  of  that  period,  no  doubt,  were  still 
preserved ;  and  the  king  was  thus  able  to  study 
the  wood  and  slate  carvings  and  the  ivory  figures 
of  archaic  times.  We  of  the  present  day  can 
also  study  such  figures,  a  few  specimens  having 
been  brought  to  light  by  modem  excavators ; 
and  the  similarity  between  the  treatment  of  the 
human  body  in  this  archaic  art  and  the  new  art 
of  Akhnaton  at  once  becomes  apparent.  In 
the  accompanying  illustrations  some  archaic 
figures  are  shown,  and  one  may  perhaps  see  in 
them  the  origin  of  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  new 
school.  Here  and  in  all  representations  of  archaic 
men  one  sees  the  elongated  skull  so  characteristic 
of  the  king’s  style  ;  in  the  ivory  figure  of  an 
archaic  Pharaoh  one  sees  the  well-known  droop 
of  Akhnaton’ s  head  and  his  pointed  chin  ;  in 
the  clay  and  ivory  figures  is  the  prominent 
stomach ;  and  here  also,  most  apparent  of  all, 
are  the  unaccountably  large  thighs  and  ponderous 
hips. 

Akhnaton’ s  art  might  thus  be  said  to  be  a 
kind  of  renaissance — a  return  to  the  classical 
period  of  archaic  days  ;  the  undertying  motive 
of  this  return  being  the  desire  to  lay  emphasis 
upon  the  king’s  character  as  the  representative 
of  that  most  ancient  of  all  gods,  Ra-Horakhtb 

Another  feature  of  the  new  religion  now 


64 


THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 


4- 


THE  ART  OF  AKHNATON  COMPARED  WITH  ARCHAIC  ART. 

1.  The  head  of  Akhnaton.  From  a  contemporary  drawing. 

2.  The  head  of  a  king.  From  an  archaic  statuette  found  by  Professor  Petrie  at  Abydos. 

3.  The  head  of  Akhnaton.  From  a  contemporary  drawing. 

4.  The  head  of  a  prince.  From  an  archaic  tablet  found  by  Professor  Petrie  at  Abydos. 

5.  An  archaic  statuette  found  by  Professor  Petrie  at  Piospolis,  showing  the  large  thighs 

found  in  the  art  of  Akhnaton. 


THE  NEW  ART 


65 


becomes  apparent.  In  the  worship  of  Ra-Horakhti 
Aton  there  was  an  endeavour  to  do  honour  to 
the  Pharaoh  as  the  son  of  the  sun,  and  to  the 
god  as  the  founder  of  the  royal  line.  Tradition 
stated  that  Ra  or  Ra-Horakhti  had  once  reigned 
upon  earth,  and  that  his  spirit  had  passed  from 
Pharaoh  to  Pharaoh.  This  god  was  thus  the 
only  true  King  of  Heaven,  and  Amon  was  but 
a  usurper  of  much  more  recent  date.  It  was 
for  this  reason  that  the  names  of  the  new  god 
were  placed  within  royal  cartouches ;  and  for 
this  reason  the  king  was  so  careful  to  call  Ra- 
Horakhti  his  “  father/'  and  to  name  him  “  god 
and  king.”  For  this  reason  also  Akhnaton  often 
wore  the  crown  of  Lower  Egypt  which  was  used 
at  Heliopolis,  but  hardly  ever  the  crown  of  Upper 
Egypt,1  which  history  told  him  did  not  exist 
when  Ra  ruled  on  earth.2 

Apart  from  the  representation  of  the  human 
form,  the  new  art  is  chiefly  characterised  by 
its  freedom  of  poses.  An  attempt  is  made  to 
break  away  from  tradition,  and  a  desire  is  shown 
to  have  done  with  the  conventions  of  the  age. 
Never  before  had  the  artists  caught  the  swing 
of  a  walk,  the  relaxation  of  a  seated  figure,  so 

1  He  is  shown  wearing  the  Upper  Egyptian  crown  on  a  stela  in  the 
Cairo  Museum,  and  on  a  fragment  belonging  to  Col.  Anderson,  now 
loaned  to  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford. 

*  We  know  from  the  "  Palermo  stone  ”  that  the  kingdom  of  Lower 
Egypt  was  much  more  ancient  than  that  of  Upper  Egypt. 


66  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

well  or  so  truthfully.  Sculpture  in  the  round 
now  reached  a  height  of  perfection  which  places 
it  above  all  but  the  art  of  the  Greeks  in  the  old 
world ;  and  there  is  a  grace  and  naturalness 
in  the  low  reliefs  which  command  one’s  admiration. 
A  portrait  head  of  Queen  Nefertiti  is  a  work 
of  art  which  must  be  ranked  with  the  world’s 
greatest  masterpieces.  It  was  found  by  German 
excavators  at  El  Amarna  and  is  now  in  the 
Berlin  Museum ;  but  a  photograph  has  not 
yet  been  published  or  issued. 

There  are  only  two  artists  of  the  period  who 
are  known  by  name.1  The  one  was  a  certain 
Auta,  who  is  represented  in  a  relief  dating  from 
some  eight  years  after  the  change  in  the  art 
had  taken  place.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
this  personage  held  the  post  of  master-artist 
to  Queen  Tiy  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  in  him 
and  his  patron  we  have  the  originators  of  the 
movement.  The  king,  however,  was  now  old 
enough  to  take  an  active  interest  in  such  matters  ; 
and  the  other  artist  who  is  known  by  name, 
a  certain  Bek,  definitely  states  that  the  king 
himself  taught  him.  Thus  there  is  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  young  Pharaoh’s  own  hand  is 
to  be  traced  in  the  new  canons,  although  they 
were  instituted  when  he  was  but  fifteen  years  old. 

i  A  third  artist.  Thutmose,  is  also  known,  but  he  flourished  towards 
the  end  of  the  reign.  See  page  180. 


THE  NEW  RELIGION  DEVELOPS 


67 


8.  THE  NEW  RELIGION  DEVELOPS 

There  is  an  interesting  record,  apparently 
dating  from  about  this  period,  which  is  to  be 
seen  upon  the  rocks  near  the  breccia  quarries  of 
Wady  Hammamat.  Here  there  are  three  car- 
touches  standing  upon  two  neb  signs,  symbolic 
of  sovereignty,  and  above  them  is  the  disk  and 
rays  of  the  new  religion.  One  of  these  car- 
touches,  surrounded  by  the  tall  feathers  worn 
by  the  queens  of  this  period,  contains  a  very 
short  name,  which  can  only  be  that  of  Queen 
Tiy.'  The  other  twro  cartouches  contain  the 
names  Amenophis  (IV)  and  the  Pharaoh’s  second 
designation.  Thus  we  see  that  after  the  new 
religious  symbol  had  been  introduced,  and  just 
before  the  king  took  the  name  of  “  Akhnaton,” 
Queen  Tiy  still  held  equal  royal  rank  with  him, 
and  was  evidently  Regent. 

During  the  seventeenth  to  the  nineteenth  years 
of  his  age  the  king  seems  to  have  devoted  a 
considerable  amount  of  time  and  thought  to  the 
changes  which  were  taking  place.  With  the 
enthusiasm  of  youth  he  threw  himself  into  the 
new  movement,  and  one  may  suppose  that  it 

*  In  later  times  the  name  of  Tiy  and  the  Pharaoh's  second  name 
were  erased,  but  the  name  Amenophis  was  not  damaged.  A  facsimile 
copy  was  made  on  the  spot  by  the  present  writer  in  correction  of  a 
previous  copy  made  by  Golenischefi.  It  is  published  in  his  “  Travels 
in  the  Upper  Egyptian  Deserts  "  (Blackwood). 


68  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

C 

required  all  Queen  Tiy’s  tact  and  diplomacy  to 
keep  him  from  offending  his  country  by  some 
rash  action  against  the  priesthood  of  Amon. 
Those  priests  were  by  no  means  reconciled  to 
the  king’s  devotion  to  Ra-Horakhti ;  and  al¬ 
though  he  still  nominally  served  the  Theban 
god,  they  felt  that  every  day  he  was  becoming 
more  estranged  from  that  deity.  No  doubt 
there  were  many  passages  of  arms  between  the 
High  Priest  of  Amon- R a  and  this  royal  High 
Priest  of  the  sun,  young  as  he  was.  The  new 
art,  upsetting  all  the  old  religious  conventions, 
was  distasteful  to  the  priests  ;  the  new  religious 
thought  did  not  conform  to  their  stereotyped 
doctrines ;  and  much  that  the  king  said  must 
have  been  absolutely  heretical  to  their  ears.  The 
tide  of  thought,  now  directed  in  so  eager  and 
boyishly  unreserved  a  manner,  was  sweeping 
them  from  their  feet,  and  they  knew  not  whither 
they  were  being  carried. 

The  court  officials  blindly  followed  their  young 
king,  and  to  every  word  which  he  spoke  they 
listened  attentively.  Sometimes  the  thoughts 
which  he  voiced  came  direct  from  the  mazes  of 
his  own  mind ;  sometimes  perhaps  he  repeated 
the  utterances  of  his  deep-thinking  mother ; 
and  sometimes  there  may  have  passed  from  his 
lips  the  pearls  of  wisdom  which  he  had  gleaned 
from  the  wise  men  of  his  court.  At  his  behest 


THE  NEW  RELIGION  DEVELOPS 


69 


the  dreamers  of  Asia  had  probably  related  to 
him  their  visions ;  the  philosophers  had  made 
pregnant  his  mind  with  the  mystery  of  knowledge  ; 
the  poets  had  sung  to  him  harp-songs  in  which 
echoed  the  beliefs  of  the  elder  days ;  the  priests 
of  strange  gods  had  submitted  to  him  the  creeds 
of  strange  people.  He  had  not  walked  in  the 
shadow  of  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  nor  had  he 
ascended  the  Syrian  hills ;  but  nevertheless  the 
hymns  of  Adonis  and  the  chants  of  Baal  were 
probably  as  familiar  to  him  as  were  the  solemn 
chants  of  Amon-Ra.  At  the  cosmopolitan  court 
of  Thebes  men  of  all  nations  were  assembled. 
The  hills  of  Crete,  the  gardens  of  Persia,  the 
incense-groves  of  Araby,  added  their  philosophies 
to  his  dreams,  and  the  haunting  lips  of  Babylon 
whispered  to  him  mysteries  of  far-off  days.  From 
Sardinia,  Sicily,  and  Cyprus  there  must  have  come 
to  him  the  doctrines  of  those  who  had  business 
in  great  waters ;  and  Libya  and  Ethiopia  dis¬ 
closed  their  creeds  to  his  eager  ears.  The  fertile 
brain  of  the  Pharaoh,  it  seems  probable,  was 
thus  sown  at  an  early  age  with  the  seed  of  all 
that  was  wonderful  in  the  world  of  thought. 

It  must  always  be  remembered  that  the  king 
had  much  foreign  blood  in  his  veins.  On  the 
other  hand,  those  men  to  whom  he  spoke,  though 
highly  educated,  were  but  superstitious  Egyptians 
who  could  not  relieve  themselves  of  the  belief 


70 


THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 


that  a  divine  power  rested  upon  the  Pharaoh. 
Thus  his  speculative  young  brain  poured  its 
fantasies  into  attentive  minds  unbiased  by  rival 
speculations,  though  narrowed  by  conventions. 
Egyptians,  ever  lacking  in  originality,  have 
always  possessed  the  power  to  imitate  and  adapt ; 
and  those  nobles  whose  fortunes  were  dependent 
upon  the  royal  favour  soon  leamt  to  attune 
their  minds  to  the  note  of  their  king.  Daily 
they  must  have  gone  about  their  business  ostenta¬ 
tiously  attempting  to  hold  to  the  difficult  path 
of  truth ;  laboriously  telling  themselves  what 
wonders  the  new  thought  revealed  to  them ; 
loudly  praising  the  wisdom  of  the  boy-Pharaoh ; 
and  nervously  asking  themselves  whether  and 
when  the  wrath  of  Amon  would  smite  them. 

Thus  encouraged,  the  king  and  his  mother 
developed  their  speculations,  and  drew  into  their 
circle  of  followers  some  of  the  greatest  nobles  of 
the  land.  A  striking  example  of  this  proselytis¬ 
ing  is  to  be  found  in  the  tomb  of  the  Vizir 
Ramose.  It  has  already  been  stated  that  that 
official  had  constructed  for  himself  a  sepulchre 
in  the  Theban  necropolis,  upon  the  walls  of  which 
he  had  first  caused  a  portrait  of  the  young  king 
to  be  sculptured  in  the  old  conventional  style, 
and  later  had  added  another  portrait  of  the 
Pharaoh  standing  beneath  the  radiating  beams 
of  the  sun,  executed  in  the  new  style.  Ramose 


THE  NEW  RELIGION  DEVELOPS 


71 


now  added  various  other  scenes  and  inscriptions, 
and  he  records  a  certain  speech  made  by  the 
king  to  him,  and  his  own  reply. 

“  The  words  of  Ra,"  the  king  had  said,  “  are  before 
thee.  .  .  .  My  august  father1  taught  me  their 
essence  and  [revealed]  them  to  me.  .  .  .  They  were 
known  in  my  heart,  opened  to  my  face.  I  under¬ 
stood.  ..." 

"  Thou  art  the  Only  One  of  Aton  ;  in  possession 
of  his  designs,"  replied  Ramose.  "  Thou  hast  directed 
the  mountains.  The  fear  of  thee  is  in  the  midst  of 
their  secret  chambers,  as  it  is  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  The  mountains  hearken  to  thee  as  the  people 
hearken." 

Thus  one  sees  how  the  king  was  already  formu¬ 
lating  some  kind  of  doctrine  in  his  head,  and  that 
the  nobles  were  receiving  it ;  but  it  is  significant 
that  there  are  here  representations  of  Ramose 
loaded  with  gifts  by  the  Pharaohs,  as  though  in 
reward  for  his  allegiance.  The  Pharaoh  seems, 
indeed,  to  have  showered  honours  upon  those 
who  appeared  to  grasp)  intelligently  the  thoughts 
which  were  still  immature  in  his  own  head ;  and 
there  must  have  been  many  an  antagonist  who 
rallied  to  his  standard  from  the  sheer  love  of 
gold.  The  king  was  in  need  of  all  the  support 
which  he  could  muster,  for  an  open  break  with 
the  priesthood  of  Amon-Ra  grew  more  and  more 
probable  as  his  doctrines  shaped  themselves  in 


*  Meaning  the  god. 


72  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

his  mind ;  and  although  the  people  of  Egypt  as 
a  whole  would,  without  question,  follow  their 
Pharaoh  for  the  one  reason  that  he  was  Pharaoh, 
there  was  every  probability  that  the  Amon 
priesthood  and  the  Theban  populace  would  make 
a  stand  against  any  infringement  of  the  rights 
of  their  local  god. 

The  young  Pharaoh  seems  to  have  been  very 
strong-willed,  and  one  may  presume  that  he 
inherited,  from  his  illustrious  fathers,  the  forceful 
character  which  there  is  not  a  little  evidence  to 
show  they  possessed.  Throughout  his  life,  and 
for  some  years  after  his  death,  he  retained  the 
affection  of  his  people ;  and  when  one  considers 
how  faithfully  his  nobles  followed  him  so  long 
as  he  had  strength  and  health  to  lead  them, 
and  how  completely  lost  they  were  at  his  death, 
one  realises  how  great  an  influence  he  must  have 
exerted  over  them..  Even  at  this  early  age  they 
seem  to  have  possessed  a  deep  regard  for  the 
grave,  thoughtful  boy  ;  and  behind  all  the  pre¬ 
tence,  the  hypocrisy,  and  the  merely  conventional 
loyalty,  one  surely  catches  a  glimpse  of  a  strong, 
personal  affection  for  the  king. 

We  must  here  record  the  birth  of  the  king's 
first  daughter,  wThich  occurred  in  about  the  fifth 
year  of  his  reign,  when  he  was  some  eighteen 
years  of  age.  The  child  was  named  Merytaton. 
4<  Beloved  of  A  ton  ”  ;  and  though  the  advent  of 


Amenophis  III.,  the  Father  of  Akhnaton  The  Head  of  a  Statuette  of  Akhnaton’s  Mother,  Queen  Tiy, 

From  the  colossal  statue  in  the  British  Museum  found  by  Professor  Petrie  in  Sinai 

( See  page  42)  ( See  page  43) 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  NEW  RELIGION 


73 


a  daughter  instead  of  a  son  must  have  been 
a  grave  disappointment  to  the  royal  couple, 
a  remarkable  degree  of  affection  was  lavished 
upon  the  little  girl,  as  will  be  apparent  in  the 
sequel. 

9.  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  NEW  RELIGION 

There  was  nothing  strikingly  exalted  in  the 
religion  which  was  now  so  filling  the  king’s  mind. 
Ra-Horakhti  Aton  was  in  no  wise  considered  as 
the  only  god :  there  were  as  yet  no  ideas  of 
monotheism  in  the  doctrine.  In  the  new  temple 
at  Kamak,  as  we  have  seen,  Homs,  Set,  Wepwat, 
and  other  gods  were  named ;  and  elsewhere 
Amon  was  reluctantly  recognised.  The  goddess 
Maat,  in  the  tomb  of  Ramose,  was  not  obliterated 
from  the  walls,  but  still  stood  protecting  the 
king ;  and  in  the  same  tomb  Homs  of  Edfu  is 
invoked.  In  the  tomb  of  Horemheb,  Homs, 
Osiris,  Isis,  Nephthys,  and  Hathor  are  mentioned, 
and  the  gods  of  the  Necropolis  still  receive  honour  ; 
Horemheb  himself  still  holds  the  honorary  post 
of  High  Priest  of  Homs,  Lord  of  Alabastronpolis  ; 
Thoth  and  Maat  are  referred  to  ;  and  there  is 
a  magical  prayer  to  Ra,  which  is  by  no  means 
of  lofty  character.  Scarabs  of  this  period  speak 
of  the  Pharaoh  as  beloved  of  Thoth,  the  god 
of  wisdom ;  and  in  a  letter  to  the  king  dated  in 
the  fifth  year  of  his  reign,  Ptah  and  “  the  gods 


74  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

and  goddesses  ”  of  Memphis  are  referred  to. 

This  letter  is  of  such  interest  that  a  fuller 
account  of  it  must  here  be  given.  It  was  ad¬ 
dressed  to  the  king,  who  is  still  called  Amenophis, 
by  a  royal  steward  named  Apiy,  who  lived  at 
Memphis.  Two  copies  of  the  letter  were  found 
at  Gurob,1  both  dated  in  the  fifth  year  of  the 
king’s  reign,  the  third  month  of  whiter,  and  the 
nineteenth  day.  The  letter  begins  with  the  full 
titles  of  the  Pharaoh,  including  “  Great  of 
Dominion  in  Karnak,”  and  “  Ruler  of  Thebes/' 
and  also  the  phrase  “  living  in  truth/’  which 
from  this  time  onwards  was  always  added  to 
his  name.  Then  follows  the  invocation  :  “  May 
Ptah  of  the  beautiful  countenance  work  tor 
thee,  who  created  thy  beauties,  thy  true  father 
who  raised  (?)  thee  from  his  house  to  rule  the 
orbit  of  the  Atom”  Next  comes  the  real  business 
of  the  letter  :  “  A  communication  is  this  to  the 
Master,  [to  whom  be]  life,  prosperity,  and  health, 
to  give  information  that  the  temple  of  thy  father 
Ptah  ...  is  sound  and  prosperous  ;  the  house 
of  Pharaoh  ...  is  flourishing  ;  the  establish¬ 
ments  of  pharaoh  .  .  .  are  flourishing ;  the 
residence  of  Pharaoh  ...  is  flourishing  and 
healthy  ;  the  offerings  of  all  the  gods  and  god¬ 
desses  who  are  upon  the  soil  (?)  of  Memphis  are 
.  .  .  complete ;  complete  [are  they],  there  is 

*  Griffith  :  Kahun  Papyri.  Text,  p.  91. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  NEW  RELIGION 


75 


nothing  held  back  from  them.”  Again  the  titles 
of  the  king  are  given,  and  the  letter  ends  with 
the  date. 

Thus  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  king's  reign,  when 
he  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  the  various 
gods  of  Egypt  were  still  acknowledged  ;  and, 
though  the  art  had  been  changed  and  the  worship 
of  Ra-Horakhti  under  the  name  of  Aton  had 
made  great  strides  towards  supremacy,  there  is 
as  yet  no  sign  of  the  lofty  monotheism  which 
the  Pharaoh  was  soon  to  propound. 

In  the  portions  of  the  tomb  of  Horemheb  which 
date  from  this  period,  Ra-Horakhti  is  invoked 
in  the  following  words :  “  Ra-Horakhti,  great 

god,  Lord  of  heaven,  Lord  of  earth,  who  cometh 
forth  from  his  horizon  and  illuminateth  the  Two 
Lands  [of  Egypt],  the  sun  of  darkness  as  the 
great  one,  as  Ra  ;  ”  and  again  :  “  Ra,  Lord  of 
Truth,  great  god,  sovereign  of  Heliopolis,  .  .  . 
Horakhti,  only  god,  king  of  the  gods,  who  rises 
in  the  west  and  sendeth  forth  his  beauty.”  From 
other  sources,  which  we  have  seen,  the  god  is 
called  “  Ra-Horakhti  rejoicing  in  the  horizon 
in  his  name  Heat- which-is-in- Aton.” 

Here  we  have  simply  the  old  religion  of  Helio¬ 
polis,  to  which  has  been  grafted  something  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Syrian  Adonis  or  Aton. 
At  Heliopolis  there  was  a  sacred  bull,  known 
as  Mnevis,  which  was  regarded  as  the  living 


76  THE  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  YEARS  OF  AKHNATON 

personification  of  Ra-Horakhti,  and  which  was 
treated  with  divine  honours,  like  the  more  famous 
Apis  bull  of  Memphis.  Even  this  superstition 
was  accepted  by  the  king  at  this  time,  and  con¬ 
tinued  to  be  acknowledged  by  him  for  yet 
another  year  or  two.1  The  “  Heat-which-is-in 
Aton  ”  offered  food  for  much  speculation,  and, 
by  directing  the  attention  to  an  intangible  quality 
of  the  sun,  opened  up  the  widest  fields  for  re¬ 
ligious  thought.  But,  with  this  exception,  there 
was  nothing  as  yet  in  the  new  religion  to  command 
one's  admiration. 

x  Is  there  a  distant  connection  between  Mnevis  and  the  Minoan 
bull  of  Crete  ?  See  p.  117. 


77 


III 

AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


*'  A  brave  soul,  undauntedly  facing  the  momentum  of  mmemorial 
tradition  .  .  .  that  he  might  disseminate  ideas  far  beyond  and  above 
the  capacity  of  his  age  to  understand.” — Breasted  :  “  History  of 

Egypt.” 


1.  THE  BREAK  WITH  THE  PRIESTHOOD 

OF  AMON-RA 

The  expected  break  with  the  priesthood  of 
Amon  was  not  long  in  corning.  One  knows 
nothing  of  the  details  of  the  quarrel,  but  it  may 
be  supposed  that  Akhnaton  himself  flung  down 
the  gauntlet,  making  the  rash  attempt  to  rid 
himself  of  the  weight  of  an  organisation  which 
had  proved  such  a  drag  upon  his  actions.  There 
is  no  evidence  to  show  that  he  disbanded  the 
priesthood,  or  prohibited  the  worship  of  Amon 
at  this  period  of  his  reign  ;  but  as  the  ultimate 
persecution  of  that  god,  some  years  later,  com¬ 
menced  very  soon  after  the  death  of  his  mother, 
one  may  suppose  that  it  was  her  restraining 
influence  which  prevented  him  from  precipitating 


78 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


a  struggle  to  the  death  with  the  god  of  Thebes. 
The  king  was  now  entering  upon  the  sixth  year 
of  his  reign  and  the  nineteenth  of  his  age,  and 
he  was  already  developing  in  his  mind  theories 
and  principles  which  were  soon  to  produce  radical 
changes  in  the  new  religion  of  the  Court.  He 
found,  no  doubt,  that  it  was  hopeless  to  attempt 
to  convert  the  people  of  Thebes  to  the  new 
doctrines  ;  and  daily  he  realised  the  more  clearly 
that  the  development  either  of  the  faith  of  Ra- 
Horakhti  Aton,  or  ol  the  ideals  which  he  was 
beginning  to  find  therein,  was  cramped  and 
checked  by  the  hostility  of  the  influences  which 
pressed  around  his  immediate  circle.  From  the 
walls  of  every  temple,  from  pylons  and  gateways, 
pillars  and  obelisks,  the  figure  of  Amon  stared 
down  at  him  in  defiance  ;  and  everywhere  he 
was  confronted  with  the  tokens  of  that  god’s 
power.  His  little  temple  at  Karnak  was  over¬ 
shadowed  by  the  larger  buildings  of  Amon ; 
and  the  few  priests  who  served  at  the  new  altar 
were  lost  amidst  the  crowds  of  the  ministers  of 
the  Theban  god.  How  could  the  flower  thrive 
and  bloom  in  such  uncongenial  soil  ?  How  could 
the  sun  shine  through  such  density  of  conven¬ 
tional  tradition  ? 

The  king,  no  doubt,  endeavoured  to  cripple 
the  priesthood  of  Amon  by  cutting  down  its 
budget  as  much  as  possible,  and  by  attempting 


BREAK  WITH  PRIESTHOOD  OF  AMON-RA 


79 


to  win  over  to  his  side  some  of  the  priests  of 
high  standing.  Had  he  succeeded  in  reducing 
it  to  the  rank  of  the  smaller  cults,  it  is  probable 
that  he  would  have  been  satisfied  so  to  leave  it ; 
for  at  that  time  he  wished  only  to  place  Ra- 
Horakhti  in  a  position  of  undoubted  supremacy 
above  all  other  gods.  But  the  vast  resources 
of  Amon  seemed  unconquerable,  and  there 
appeared  to  be  little  chance  of  reducing  the 
priesthood  to  a  position  of  inferior  rank. 

In  this  dilemma  the  king  took  a  step  which 
had  been  for  some  time  considered  in  his  mind 
and  in  the  minds  of  his  advisers.  He  decided 
to  abandon  Thebes.  He  would  build  a  city  far 
away  from  all  contaminating  influences,  and  there 
he  would  hold  his  court  and  worship  his  god. 
On  clean,  new  soil  he  would  establish  the  earthly 
home  of  Ra-Horakhti  Aton,  and  there,  with 
his  faithful  followers,  he  would  develop  those 
schemes  which  now  so  filled  his  brain.  Thus 
also,  by  reducing  Thebes  to  the  position  of 
a  provincial  town,  he  might  lessen  the  power  of 
the  priesthood  of  Amon  ;  for  no  longer  would 
Amon  be  the  royal  god,  the  god  of  the  capital. 
He  would  shake  the  dust  of  Thebes  from  off  his 
sandals,  and  never  again  would  he  allow  himself 
to  be  baffled  and  irritated  by  the  sight  of  the 
glories  of  Amon. 

The  first  step  which  he  took  was  that  of 


80 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


changing  his  name  from  Amenophis  “  The-Peace- 
of-Amon,”  to  Akhnaton,  “  Aton  is  satisfied  ” 
and  from  that  time  forth  the  word  Amon  hardly 
passed  his  lips.  He  retained  two  of  his  other 
names, — i.e .,  “  Beautiful-is-the-being-of-Ra,”  and 
“  The-Only-One-of-Ra,”  the  latter  being  often 
used  by  him  ;  but  such  titles  and  names  as  that 
which  made  mention  of  Kamak  he  entirely  dis¬ 
pensed  with.  He  now  laid  more  stress  upon  the 
nature  of  his  god  as  “  Aton  ”  or  “  the  Aton  ”2 
than  as  Ra-Horakhti ;  and  from  this  time  on¬ 
wards  the  name  Ra-Horakhti  becomes  less  and 
less  prominent,  though  retained  throughout  the 
king's  reign. 

2.  AKHNATON  SELECTS  THE  SITE  OF  HIS  CITY 

Down  the  river  it  would  seem  that  the  young 
Pharaoh  now  sailed  in  his  royal  dahabiyeh ,  look¬ 
ing  to  right  and  left  as  he  went,  now  inspecting 
this  site  and  now  examining  that.  At  last  he 
came  upon  a  place  which  suited  his  fancy  to 
perfection.  It  was  situated  about  160  miles 
above  the  modem  Cairo.  At  this  point  the  lime¬ 
stone  cliffs  upon  the  east  bank  leave  the  river 
and  recede  for  about  three  miles,  returning  to 

1  Sethe  :  Zeitschrift  Aeg.  Spr.,  44,  116-118. 

2  The  god  is  sometimes  called  ”  Aton ”  simply  and  sometimes 
Pa  Aton,  “  the  Aton  ”  ;  just  as  we  speak  of  “  Christ  ”  or  “  the  Christ,” 
and  of  ”  Lord  ”  or  ”  the  Lord,”  this  latter  being  the  actual  meaning 
of  ”  Aton.” 


AKHNATON  SELECTS  THE  SITE  OF  HIS  CITY  81 

the  water  some  five  or  six  miles  farther  along. 
Thus  a  bay  is  formed  which  is  protected  on  its 
west  side  by  the  river  in  which  there  here  lies 
a  small  island,  and  in  all  other  directions  by  the 
crescent  of  the  cliffs.  Upon  the  island  he  would 
erect  pavilions  and  pleasure-houses.  Along  the 
edge  of  the  river  there  was  a  narrow  strip  of 
cultivated  land  whereon  he  would  plant  his 
palace  gardens,  and  those  of  the  nobles'  villas. 
Behind  this  verdant  band  the  smooth  desert 
stretched,  and  here  he  would  build  the  palace 
itself  and  the  great  temples.  Behind  this  again, 
the  sand  and  gravel  surface  of  the  wilderness 
gently  sloped  up  to  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  and  here 
there  would  be  roads  and  causeways  whereon 
the  chariots  might  be  whirled  in  the  early 
mornings.  In  the  face  of  the  cliffs  he  would  cut 
his  tomb  and  those  of  his  followers ;  and  at 
intervals  around  the  crescent  of  these  hills  he 
would  cause  great  boundary  stones  to  be  made, 
so  that  all  men  might  know  and  respect  the 
limits  of  his  city.  What  splendid  quays  would 
edge  the  river,  what  palaces  reflect  their  white¬ 
ness  in  its  waters  !  There  would  be  broad  shaded 
avenues,  and  shimmering  lakes  surrounded  by 
the  fairest  trees  of  Asia.  Temples  would  raise 
their  lofty  pylons  to  the  blue  skies,  and  broad 
courts  should  lie  stretched  in  the  sunlight. 

In  Akhnaton’s  youthful  mind  there  already 

H 


82 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


stood  the  temples  and  the  mansions  ;  already  he 
heard  the  sound  of  sweet  music.  The  pomp  of 
imperial  Egypt  displaced  the  farm-houses  and 
the  fields  of  corn  which  now  occupied  the  site  ; 
and  the  song  of  the  shepherd  in  the  wilderness 
was  changed  to  the  rolling  psalms  of  the  Aton. 
Fair  was  this  dream  and  enthralling  to  the 
dreamer.  To  Queen  Tiy  it  probably  did  not 
appeal  so  strongly ;  for  Thebes  was  full  of 
associations  to  her,  and  her  palace  beside  the 
lake  was  very  dear.  There  is,  indeed,  every 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  dowager-queen  lived 
on  at  Thebes  after  her  son  had  abandoned  it. 

3.  THE  FIRST  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION 

Preparations  were  soon  made  for  the  laying 
out  of  the  city,  and  in  a  very  short  time  Akhnaton 
was  called  upon  to  visit  the  site  in  order  to 
perform  the  foundation  ceremonies.  Fortunately 
the  inscriptions  upon  some  of  the  boundary 
tablets  in  the  desert  tell  us  something  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  king  marked  the  limits  of 
the  city.1  The  first  inscription  reads  as  follows  : — 

Year  6,  fourth  month  of  the  second  season,  day 
13. 2  .  .  .  On  this  day  the  King  was  in  the 

1  The  translation  here  given  is  based  upon  that  published  by  Davies 
in  Amarna  V.  ;  but  the  year  cannot  be  the  fourth,  as  there  stated 
as  probable,  since  in  the  above-mentioned  letter  dated  in  year  5  the 
king  is  still  called  Amenophis,  whereas  in  this  inscription  he  is  called 
Akhnaton. 

3  The  day  is  not  certain  ;  perhaps  it  is  day  4. 


THE  FIRST  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION 


83 


City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton.1  His  Majesty  ascended 
a  great  chariot  of  electrum,  [appearing]  like  Aton 
when  He  rises  from  His  [eastern]  horizon  and  fills 
the  land  with  His  love  ;  and  he  started  a  goodly 
course  [from  his  camping  place]  to  the  City  of  the 
Horizon.  .  .  .  Heaven  was  joyful,  earth  was  glad, 
and  every  heart  was  happy  when  they  saw  him.  And 
his  Majesty  offered  a  great  sacrifice  to  Aton,  of  bread, 
beer,  horned  bulls,  polled  bulls,  beasts,  fowl,  wine, 
incense,  frankincense,  and  all  goodly  herbs  on  this 
day  of  demarcating  the  city  of  the  Horizon.  .  .  . 

After  these  things,  the  good  pleasure  of  Aton  being 
done,  .  .  .  [the  King  returned  from]  the  City  of 
the  Horizon,  and  he  rested  upon  his  great  throne 
with  which  he  is  well  pleased,  which  uplifts  his  beauties. 
And  his  Majesty  continued  in  the  presence  of  his 
Father  Aton,  and  Aton  shone  upon  him  in  life  and 
length  of  days,  invigorating  his  body  each  day. 

And  his  Majesty  said,  “  Bring  me  the  companions 
of  the  King,  the  great  ones  and  the  mighty  ones, 
the  captains  of  soldiers,  and  the  nobles  of  the  land 
in  its  entirety."  And  they  were  conducted  to  him 
straightway,  and  they  lay  on  their  bellies  before  his 
Majesty,  kissing  the  ground  before  his  mighty  will. 

And  his  Majesty  said  unto  them,  "Ye  behold  the 
City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton,  which  the  Aton  has 
desired  me  to  make  for  Him  as  a  monument  in  the 
great  name  of  my  Majesty  for  ever.  For  it  was  the 
Aton,  my  Father,  that  brought  me  to  this  City  of 
the  Horizon.  There  was  not  a  noble  who  directed  me 
to  it  ;  there  was  not  any  man  in  the  whole  land  who 
led  me  to  it,  saying,  '  It  is  fitting  for  his  Majesty 
that  he  make  a  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton  in  this 
place.'  Nay,  but  it  was  the  Aton,  my  Father,  that 

*  For  the  sake  of  brevity  it  is  often  called  “  the  City  of  the  Horizon," 
simply,  in  this  volume. 


84 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


directed  me  to  it  to  make  it  for  Him.  .  .  .  Behold 
the  Pharaoh  found  that  [this  site]  belonged  not  to  a 
god,  nor  to  a  goddess,  it  belonged  not  to  a  prince,  nor 
to  a  princess.  There  was  no  right  for  any  man  to 
act  as  owner  of  it.”  .  .  . 

[.  .  .  And  they  answered  and  said]  “  Lo ! 

it  is  Aton  that  putteth  [the  thought]  in  thy  heart 
regarding  any  place  that  he  desires.  He  doth  not 
uplift  the  name  of  any  King  except  thy  Majesty  ; 
He  doth  not  [exalt]  any  other  except  [thee.] 

Thou  drawest  unto  Aton  every  land,  thou  adornest 
for  Him  the  towns  which  He  had  made  for  his  own 
self,  all  lands,  all  countries,  the  Hanebu1  with  their 
products  and  their  tribute  upon  their  backs  for  Him  that 
made  their  life,  and  by  whose  rays  one  lives  and 
breathes  the  air.  May  He  grant  eternity  in  seeing 
his  rays.  .  .  .  Verily,  the  City  of  the  Horizon  will 
thrive  like  Aton  in  heaven  for  ever  and  ever.” 

Then  his  Majesty  lifted  his  hand  to  heaven  unto 
Him  that  formed  him,  saying,  “  As  my  father  Ra- 
Horakhti  Aton  liveth,  the  great  and  living  Aton, 
ordaining  life,  vigorous  in  life,  my  father,  my  rampart 
of  a  million  cubits,  my  remembrancer  of  eternity,  my 
witness  of  that  which  pertains  to  eternity,  who  formeth 
Himself  with  His  own  hands,  whom  no  artificer  hath 
known,  who  is  established  in  rising  and  in  setting 
each  day  without  ceasing.  Whether  He  is  in  heaven 
or  in  earth,2  every  eye  seeth  Him  without  [failing,] 
while  He  fills  the  land  with  His  beams  and  makes 
every  face  to  live.  With  seeing  whom  may  my  eyes 
be  satisfied  daily,  when  He  rises  in  this  temple  of 
Aton  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon,  and  fills  it  with  His 
own  self  by  His  beams,  beauteous  in  love,  and  lays 


*  Mediterranean  people. 

2  This  has  reference  to  the  rays  which  come  from  the  Aton. 


THE  FIRST  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION 


85 


them  upon  me  in  life  and  length  of  days  for  ever 
and  ever. 

“  I  will  make  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton  for 
the  Aton,  my  father,  in  this  place.  I  will  not  make 
the  City  south  of  it,  north  of  it,  west  of  it,  or  east 
of  it.  I  will  not  pass  beyond  the  southern  boundary- 
stone  southward,  neither  will  I  pass  beyond  the 
northern  boundary-stone  northward  to  make  for  him 
a  City  of  the  Horizon  there ;  neither  will  I  make 
for  Him  a  city  on  the  western  side.  Nay,  but  I  will 
make  the  City  of  the  Horizon  for  the  Aton,  my  Father, 
upon  the  east  side,  the  place  which  He  did  enclose 
for  His  own  self  with  cliffs,  and  made  a  plain  (?)  in 
the  midst  of  it  that  I  might  sacrifice  to  Him  thereon  : 
this  is  it.  Neither  shall  the  Queen  say  unto  me, 
'  Behold,  there  is  a  goodly  place  for  the  City  of  the 
Horizon  in  another  place/  and  I  hearken  unto  her. 
Neither  shall  any  noble  nor  [any  one]  of  all  men  who 
are  in  the  whole  land  [say  unto  me],  ‘  Behold,  there 
is  a  goodly  place  for  the  City  of  the  Horizon  in  another 
place/  and  I  hearken  unto  them.  Whether  it  be 
down-stream,  or  southwards,  or  westwards,  or  east¬ 
wards,  I  will  not  say  *  I  will  abandon  this  City  of 
the  Horizon  and  will  hasten  away  and  make  the 
City  of  the  Horizon  in  this  other  goodly  place  ’  for 
ever.  Nay,  but  I  did  find  this  City  of  the  Horizon 
for  the  Aton,  which  He  had  himself  desired,  and  with 
which  He  is  pleased  for  ever  and  ever. 

“  I  will  make  a  temple  of  Aton  for  the  Aton,  my 
Father,  in  this  place.  I  will  make  a  ...  of  Aton 
for  the  Aton,  my  Father,  in  this  place.  I  will  make 
a  Shadow-of-the-Sun1  of  the  Great  Wife  of  the  King, 
Nefertiti,  for  the  Aton,  my  Father,  in  this  place.  I 
will  make  a  House  of  Rejoicing  for  the  Aton,  my 
Father,  on  the  island  of  *  Aton  illustrious  in  Festivals  ' 


1  This  seems  to  have  been  a  temple. 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 

in  this  place.  ...  I  will  make  all  works  which  are 
necessary  for  the  Aton,  my  Father,  in  this  place.  I 
will  make  .  .  .  for  the  Aton,  my  Father,  in  this  place. 
I  will  make  for  myself  the  Palace  of  Pharaoh  ;  and 
I  will  make  the  Palace  of  the  Queen  in  this  place. 
There  shall  be  made  for  me  a  sepulchre  in  the  eastern 
hills;  my  burial  shall  be  made  therein  .  .  .and  the 
burial  of  the  Great  Wife  of  the  King,  Nefertiti,  shall 
be  made  therein,  and  the  burial  of  the  King’s  daughter 
Merytaton  shall  be  made  therein.  If  I  die  in  any 
town  of  the  north,  south,  west,  or  east,  I  will  be 
brought  here  and  my  burial  shall  be  made  in  the 
City  of  the  Horizon.  If  the  Great  Queen,  Nefertiti, 
who  lives,  die  in  any  town  of  the  north,  south,  west 
or  east,  she  shall  be  brought  here  and  buried  in  the 
City  of  the  Horizon.  If  the  King’s  daughter  Merytaton 
die  in  any  town  of  the  north,  south,  west,  or  east, 
she  shall  be  brought  here  and  buried  in  the  City  of 
the  Horizon.  And  the  sepulchre  of  Mnevis  shall 
be  made  in  the  eastern  hills  and  he  shall  be  buried 
therein.  The  tombs  of  the  High  Priests  and  the 
Divine  Fathers  and  the  priests  of  the  Aton  shall 
be  made  in  the  eastern  hills,  and  they  shall  be  buried 
therein.  The  tombs  of  the  officers,  and  others,  shall 
be  made  in  the  eastern  hills,  and  they  shall  be  buried 
therein. 

“  For  as  my  father  Ra-Horakhti  Aton  liveth  .  .  . 
[the  words  ?]  of  the  priests,  more  evil  are  they  than 
those  things  which  I  heard  until  the  year  four,  more 
evil  are  they  than  those  things  which  I  have  heard 
in  .  .  .  more  evil  are  they  than  those  things  which 
King  [Nebmaara1  ]  heard,  more  evil  are  they  than 
those  things  which  Menkheperura3  heard.  .  .  .” 


The  second  name,  of  Amenophis  III.,  Akhnaton's  father. 

The  second  name  of  Thutmosis  IV.,  Akhnaton’s  grandfather. 


THE  SECOND  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION 


87 


The  rest  of  the  inscription  is  so  much  broken 
that  only  a  few  words  here  and  there  can  be 
read.  They  seem  to  refer  to  the  king’s  further 
projects — how  he  will  make  ships  to  sail  to  and 
from  the  city,  how  he  will  build  granaries,  cele¬ 
brate  festivals,  plant  trees,  and  so  on. 

The  reference  to  the  year  four  is  very  inter¬ 
esting,  and  it  would  seem  that  it  was  at  about 
that  date  that  the  king’s  eyes  were  opened  to 
the  necessity  of  making  war  upon  the  priesthood 
of  Amon.  As  we  have  seen,  it  was  in  about 
the  fourth  year  of  his  reign  that  the  great 
changes  in  the  art  took  place,  and  the  symbol 
of  the  sun’s  rays  was  introduced  into  the  sculp¬ 
tures.  The  mention  of  the  two  previous 
Pharaohs  shows  that  troubles  were  already  brew¬ 
ing  then  ;  but  it  had  remained  for  the  energetic 
young  Akhnaton  to  bring  matters  to  a  head. 

4.  THE  SECOND  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION 

The  inscription  recording  these  events  was 
probably  not  written  until  some  months  after 
they  had  occurred.  Just  when  the  engravers 
had  made  an  end  of  their  work  a  second  daughter 
was  born  to  the  king  and  queen,  whom  they 
named  Meketaton  ;  and  orders  were  given  that 
her  figure  should  be  added  upon  the  boundary 
tablet  beside  that  of  her  sister,  which  already 
appeared  there  with  Akhnaton  and  Nefertiti. 


88  AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 

The  king  must  have  been  greatly  distressed  that 
a  son  had  not  been  granted  to  him  ;  for  the 
thought  was  bitter  that,  in  the  event  of  his  death, 
all  his  projects  would  fall  to  the  ground.  He 
therefore  altered  the  wording  of  the  inscriptions 
about  to  be  written  on  the  other  boundary 
tablets ;  and,  by  including  his  oath  in  the  text, 
he  added  an  even  greater  integrity  to  the 
decree.  The  name  of  the  second  daughter  was 
now  inserted  in  this  inscription,  which  reads : — 

Year  six,  fourth  month  of  the  second  season, 
thirteenth  day. 

On  this  day  the  King  was  in  the  City  of  the 
Horizon  of  Aton,  in  the  parti-coloured  tent  made 
for  his  Majesty  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon,  the  name 
of  which  is  “  The  Aton  is  well  pleased.”  And  his 
Majesty  ascended  a  great  chariot  of  electrum,  drawn 
by  a  span  of  horses,  and  [he  appeared]  like  Aton 
when  He  rises  from  the  horizon  and  fills  the  two  lands 
with  His  love.  And  he  started  a  goodly  course  to  the 
City  of  the  Horizon,  on  this  the  first  occasion, 
...  to  dedicate  it  as  a  monument  to  the  Aton, 
•even  as  his  father  Ra-Horakhti  Aton  had  given 
command.  .  .  .  And  he  caused  a  great  sacrifice 
to  be  offered. 

And  his  Majesty  went  southward,  and  halted  on 
his  chariot  before  his  father  Ra-Horakhti  Aton,  at 
the  [foot  of  the]  south-east  hills,  and  Aton  shone  upon 
him  in  life  and  length  of  days,  invigorating  his  body 
every  day. 

Now  this  is  the  oath  pronounced  by  the  King  : — 

“  As  my  Father  Ra-Horakhti  Aton  liveth,  as  my 
heart  is  happy  in  the  Queen  and  her  children — as  to 
whom  may  it  be  granted  that  the  Great  Wife  of  the 


THE  SECOND  FOUNDATION  INSCRIPTION 


89 


King,  Nefertiti,  living  for  ever  and  ever,  grow  aged 
after  a  multitude  of  years,  in  the  care  of  the  Pharaoh, 
and  may  it  be  granted  that  the  King's  daughter 
Merytaton  and  the  King’s  daughter  Meketaton,  her 
children,  grow  old  in  the  care  of  the  Great  Wife  of 
the  King,  their  mother.  .  .  . 

“  This  is  my  oath  of  truth  which  it  is  my  desire 
to  pronounce,  and  of  which  I  will  not  say  ‘  It  is  false' 
eternally  for  ever. 

“  The  southern  boundary-stone  which  is  on  the 
eastern  hills.  It  is  the  boundary-stone  of  the  City 
of  the  Horizon,  namely  this  one  by  which  I  have  made 
halt.  I  will  not  pass  beyond  it  southwards  for  ever 
and  ever.  Make  the  south-west  boundary-stone 
opposite  it  on  the  western  hills  of  the  City  of  the 
Horizon  exactly. 

“  The  middle  boundary-stone  which  is  on  the 
eastern  hills.  It  is  the  boundary-stone  of  the  City 
of  the  Horizon  by  which  I  have  made  halt  on  the 
eastern  hills  of  the  City  of  the  Horizon.  I  will  not 
pass  beyond  it  eastwards  for  ever  and  ever.  Make 
the  middle  boundary-stone  which  is  to  be  on  the 
western  hills  opposite  it  exactly. 

“  The  north-eastern  boundary-stone  by  which  I 
have  made  halt.  It  is  the  northern  boundafy-stone 
of  the  City  of  the  Horizon.  I  will  not  pass  beyond 
it  down-stream  for  ever  and  ever.  Make  the  north 
boundary-stone  which  is  to  be  on  the  western  hills 
opposite  it  exactly. 

“  And  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of  At  on  extends 
from  the  south  boundary-stone  as  far  as  the  north 
boundary-stone,  measured  between  boundary-stone 
and  boundary-stone  on  the  eastern  hills  [which 
measurement]  amounts  to  6  ater,1  }  kh  and  4 

*  The  ater  corresponds  to  the  Greek  schoinos,  and  the  khe  is  the 
schatnium  of  100  cubits,  40  khe  making  one  ater. 


90 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


cubits.  Likewise  from  the  south-west  boundary- 
stone  to  the  north-west  boundary-stone  on  the 
western  hills  [the  measurement]  amounts  to  6  ater , 
|  khes  and  4  cubits  likewise  exactly. 

“  And  the  area  within  these  four  boundary-stones 
from  the  eastern  hills  to  the  western  hills  is  the  City 
of  the  Horizon  of  Aton  in  its  proper  self.  It  belongs 
to  my  Father  Ra-Horakhti  Aton  :  mountains,  deserts, 
meadows,  islands,  high-ground,  low-ground,  land, 
water,  villages,  embankments,  men,  beasts,  groves, 
and  all  things  which  the  Aton  my  Father  shall  bring 
into  existence  for  ever  and  ever, 

“  I  will  not  neglect  this  oath  which  I  have  made 
to  the  Aton  my  Father  for  ever  and  ever  ;  nay,  but 
it  shall  be  set  on  a  tablet  of  stone  as  the  south-east 
boundary,  likewise  as  the  north-east  boundary  of 
the  City  of  the  Horizon  ;  and  it  shall  be  set  likewise 
on  a  tablet  of  stone  as  the  south-west  boundary, 
likewise  as  the  north-west  boundary  of  the  City  of 
the  Horizon.  It  shall  not  be  erased,  it  shall  not  be 
washed  out,  it  shall  not  be  kicked,  it  shall  not  be 
struck  with  stones,  its  spoiling  shall  not  be  brought 
about.  If  it  be  missing,  if  it  be  spoilt,  if  the  tablet 
on  which  it  is  shall  fall,  I  will  renew  it  again  afresh 
in  the  place  in  which  it  was.” 

5  THE  DEPARTURE  FROM  THEBES 

From  the  above  inscription  one  sees  that 
Akhnaton  had  now  decided  to  include  the  west 
bank  of  the  river,  opposite  to  the  original  site, 
in  the  new  domain  ;  and  the  great  boundary 
tablets  are  there  to  be  found  as  on  the  eastern 
side.  By  the  time  these  decrees  were  engraved 
the  Pharaoh  was  nearly  eighteen  years  of  age  ; 


THE  DEPARTURE  FROM  THEBES 


9) 


and  these  developments  in  his  plans  are  the 
natural  signs  of  the  progress  of  his  brain  towards 
that  of  a  grown  man. 

Having  laid  the  foundations  of  the  city,  the 
king  probably  returned  to  Thebes,  where  he 
waited  as  patiently  as  possible  for  his  dream 
to  take  concrete  form.  This  period  of  waiting 
must  have  been  peculiarly  trying  to  him.  for 
his  troubles  with  the  Anion  priesthood  must 
have  embittered  his  days.  He  seems,  however, 
to  have  been  extremely  devoted  to  his  wife, 
Nefertiti,  who  was  now,  it  would  seem,  a  curiously 
attractive  young  woman  of  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years  of  age  and  the  arrival  of  the  second 
baby  afforded  an  interest  which  meant  much  to 

V 

him.  One  may  now  picture  the  king  and  queen 
living,  in  the  seclusion  of  the  palace,  a  homely, 
simple  existence,  ever  dwelling  in  a  happy  day¬ 
dream  upon  the  future  glories  of  the  new  city, 
and  the  rising  power  of  the  religion  of  Aton. 
Akhnaton’s  ill-health,  of  course,  must  have 
caused  both  his  friends  and  himself  much  anxiety  ; 
but  even  this  had  its  compensations,  for  those 
who  suffer  from  epilepsy  are  by  the  gods  beloved, 
and  Akhnaton,  no  doubt,  believed  the  hallucina¬ 
tions  due  to  his  disease  to  be  god- given  visions. 
There  must  have  been  a  very  considerable  amount 

*  The  unpublished  head  in  Berlin  is  that  of  a  strange,  dreamy, 
heavy-eyed  girl. 


92 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


of  business  to  be  worked  through  in  connection 
with  the  building  of  the  city,  and  he  could  have 
had  little  time  to  brood  upon  what  he  now  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon  him  and 
his  house  by  the  priests  of  Amon. 

So  passed  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign  with¬ 
out  any  particular  records  to  mark  it.  At 
Aswan  there  is  a  monument  which  perhaps 
dates  from  about  this  period.  The  king’s  chief 
sculptor,  Bek,  was  there  employed  in  obtaining 
red  granite  for  the  decoration  of  the  new  city  ; 
and  he  caused  to  be  made  upon  a  large  rock 
a  commemorative  tablet.  On  it  one  sees  him 
before  Akhnaton,  whose  figure  has  been  erased 
at  a  later  date  ;  and  the  altar  of  the  Aton,  above 
which  are  the  usual  sun’s  rays,  stands  beside 
them.  Bek  calls  himself  “  The  Chief  of  the 
Works  in  the  Red  [Granite]  Hills,  the  assistant 
whom  his  Majesty  himself  taught.  Chief  of  the 
Sculptors  on  the  great  and  mighty  monuments 
of  the  king  in  the  house  of  Aton  in  the  City  of 
the  Horizon  of  Aton.”  Here  also  one  sees  Men, 
the  father  of  Bek,  who  was  also  Chief  of  the 
Sculptors,  presenting  an  offering  to  a  statue  of 
Amenophis  III,  under  whom  he  had  served. 

The  eighth  year  of  Akhnaton’s  reign,  and  the 
twenty-first  year  of  his  age,  was  memorable,  for 
it  would  seem  that  he  now  took  up  his  permanent 
residence  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon.  On  some 


THE  DEPARTURE  FROM  THEBES 


93 


of  the  boundary  tablets  a  repetition  of  the  royal 
oath  is  recorded  ;  and,  as  this  is  the  last  mention 
of  a  visit  made  by  Akhnaton  to  the  new  capital, 
one  may  suppose  that  henceforth  he  was  resident 
there.  The  inscription  reads  : — 

This  oath  (of  the  sixth  year)  was  repeated  in  year 
eight,  first  month  of  the  second  season,  eighth  day. 
The  King  was  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton, 
and  Pharaoh  stood  mounted  on  a  great  chariot  of 
electrum,  inspecting  the  boundary-stones  of  the 
Aton.  .  .  . 

Then  follows  a  list  of  these  boundary-stones, 
and  the  inscription  ends  with  the  words  : — 

And  the  breadth  of  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of 
Aton  is  from  cliff  to  cliff,  from  the  eastern  horizon 
of  heaven  to  the  western  horizon  of  heaven.  It 
shall  be  for  my  Father  Ra-Horakhti  Aton,  its  hills, 
its  deserts,  all  its  fowl,  all  its  people,  all  its  cattle, 
all  things  which  the  Aton  produces,  on  which  His 
rays  shine,  all  things  which  are  in  .  .  .  the  City  of 
the  Horizon,  they  shall  be  for  the  Father,  the  living 
Aton,  unto  the  temple  of  Aton  in  the  City  of  the 
Horizon  for  ever  and  ever ;  they  are  all  offered  to 
His  spirit.  And  may  His  rays  be  beauteous  when 
they  receive  them. 

Thus  was  the  king’s  city  planned  and  laid  out. 
The  two  years  of  feverish  work  had  probably 
produced  considerable  results,  and  already  we 
may  picture  the  city  taking  form.  The  royal 
palace  was  perhaps  almost  finished  by  now,  and 

the  villas  of  some  of  the  nobles  were  habitable. 

* 

With  many  a  sigh  of  relief  Akhnaton  must  have 


94 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


bade  farewell  to  Thebes.  A  third  daughter, 
who  was  named  Ankhsenpaaton,  had  just  been 
born  ;  and  one  may  thus  picture  the  royal  party 
which  sailed  down  the  river  as  being  very  dis¬ 
tinctly  a  family.  One  sees  Akhnaton,  a  sickly 
young  man  of  twenty-one  years  of  age,  walking 
to  and  fro  upon  the  deck  of  the  royal  vessel, 
with  his  hand  upon  the  shoulder  of  his  young 
wife,  in  whose  arms  the  baby  princess  is  carried. 
Beside  them  are  the  other  twro  princesses,  one 
somewhat  over  two  years  of  age,  the  other 
about  four  years.  The  queen’s  sister,  Nezemmut, 
records  of  whose  existence  soon  become  apparent, 
was  perhaps  also  of  the  party.  Ay  and  Ty, 
the  father  and  step-mother  of  Nefertiti,  were 
doubtless  with  the  royal  family  now  as  they 
sailed  down  the  river ;  and  several  of  the  nobles 
who  play  a  part  in  the  following  pages  no  doubt 
formed  the  suite  which  attended  to  the  royal 
commands. 

8.  THE  AGE  OF  AKHNATON 

We  have  spoken  of  the  king  as  being  twenty- 
one  years  old.  The  story  has  now  reached 
a  point  at  which  we  must  pause  to  consider  this 
vexed  question  of  Akhnaton’ s  age.  In  the  above 
pages  it  has  been  said  that  the  Pharaoh  was 
about  thirteen  years  old  at  his  marriage  and 
accession  to  the  throne ;  was  sixteen  or  seventeen 


THE  AGE  OF  AKHNATON 


95 


when  the  canons  of  art  were  changed  and  the 
symbols  of  the  A  ton  religion  introduced  ;  was 
nineteen  when  the  foundations  of  the  new  city 
were  laid  ;  and  was  twenty-one  when  he  took 
up  his  residence  there.  Let  us  study  these  ages 
in  the  above  order. 

Firstly,  then,  as  to  the  king’s  marriage.  The 
mummy  of  Thutmosis  IV,  the  grandfather  of 
Akhnaton,  has  been  shown  by  Professor  Elliot 
Smith  to  be  that  of  a  man  not  more  than  about 
twrenty-six  years  of  age.  That  king  was  suc¬ 
ceeded  by  his  son  Arnenophis  III,  who  is  known 
to  have  been  married  to  Queen  Tiy  before  the 
second  year  of  his  reign,  and  to  have  been  old 
enough  at  that  time  to  begin  to  hunt  big  game. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  believe  that  he  would  be 
permitted  to  join  any  hunting  party,  however 
secure  against  accident,  before  the  twelfth  year 
of  his  age  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  he  were 
more  than  that  age,  his  father  would  have  to 
have  been  less  than  twelve  at  his  marriage. 
Thus  the  only  possible  conclusion  is  that  both 
Thutmosis  IV  and  Arnenophis  III  were  barely 
thirteen  when  they  were  married,  and  very 
possibly  even  younger.  This  is  shown  to  be 
a  correct  conclusion  by  the  fact  that  the  mummy 
of  Arnenophis  III  has  been  pronounced  by  Pro¬ 
fessor  Elliot  Smith  to  be  that  of  a  man  of  forty- 
five  or  fifty  ;  and  as  he  reigned  thirty-six  years 


96  AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 

he  must  have  been  at  most  fourteen,  and  probably 
some  years  younger,  at  his  accession  and  marriage. 

There  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  show  at 
what  ages  the  previous  Pharaohs  of  the  dynasty 
had  married,  but  as  Akhnaton’s  father  and 
grandfather  entered  into  matrimony  at  this  early 
age,  it  would  not  be  safe  to  suppose  that  he 
himself  delayed  his  marriage  till  a  later  age. 
Queen  Tiy  was  in  all  probability  married  when 
she  was  ten  or  eleven  years  old.1  Akhnaton’s 
daughter  Merytaton,  who  was  born  in  the  fourth 
or  fifth  year  of  his  reign,  was,  as  will  be  seen 
in  due  course,  married  before  the  seventeenth 
year  of  the  reign — that  is  to  say,  when  she  was 
twelve  or  younger.  The  Princess  Ankhsenpaaton, 
who  was  bom  in  the  eighth  year,  was  married, 
at  latest,  two  years  after  Akhnaton’s  death — 
i.e.,  when  she  was  eleven.  Another  of  Akhnaton’s 
daughters,  Nefemeferuaton,  who  has  not  yet 
appeared,  was  bom  in  her  father’s  eleventh  year, 
and  was  married  before  the  fifteenth,  and  there¬ 
fore  could  only  have  been  four  or  five  years  of  age. 

Child-marriages  such  as  these  are  common 
in  Egypt,  even  at  the  present  day.  Those  who 
have  lived  on  the  Nile,  and  have  studied  the 
national  habits,  will  assuredly  fix  the  probable 
age  of  a  royal  manage  de  convertance  at  about 
thirteen  years. 


x  See  note  on  p.  154; 


THE  AGE  OF  AKHNATON 


97 


Secondly,  as  to  Akhnaton’s  age  at  the  changing 
of  the  art.  In  the  biography  of  Bakenkhonsu, 
the  High  Priest  of  Amon  under  Rameses  II, 
that  official  tells  us  that  he  arrived  at  the  state 
of  manhood  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  one  may 
therefore  suppose  that  this  was  the  recognised 
legal  age  at  which  a  man  became  a  responsible 
agent  in  Egypt.  Now  it  has  been  clearly  seen 
that  Akhnaton  was  under  the  regency  of  his 
mother  during  the  first  years  of  his  reign,  and 
mention  has  been  made  of  the  inscription  at 
Wady  Hammamat,  where,  although  the  new 
symbol  of  the  religion  is  shown,  Queen  Tiy’s 
name  is  placed  beside  that  of  her  son  in  an 
equally  honourable  position.  She  was  thus  still 
Queen  Regent  when  the  art  was  changed,  and 
her  son  could  not  yet  have  come  of  age — i.e., 
he  must  then  have  been  under  sixteen. 

Thirdly,  we  have  to  consider  the  question  of 
his  age  when  he  laid  the  foundations  of  the  new 
city.  This  was  the  first  decisive  action  performed 
by  the  king  in  which  his  mother  has  no  concern, 
and  of  which  she  perhaps  even  disapproved, 
and  it  surely  marks  the  period  at  which  he  took 
the  government  into  his  own  hands.  If,  like 
Bakenkhonsu,  he  came  of  age  at  sixteen,  in  the 
fourth  year  of  his  reign,  the  founding  of'  the  new 
capital  in  the  sixth  year  would  well  fit  in  with 
the  supposition  that  the  first  idea  of  abandoning 


98 


AKHNATON  FOUNDS  A  NEW  CITY 


Thebes  marks  the  date  of  the  king’s  arrival  at 
maturity.  It  will  be  recalled  that  on  the 
foundation  stela  he  speaks  of  the  }'ear  four  as 
marking  a  definite  epoch. 

It  may  be  asked  how  so  young  a  person  could 
conceive  that  great  dream  of  the  new  city  dedi¬ 
cated  to  the  A  ton.  But,  after  all,  he  was 
nineteen  years  of  age  when  he  had  properly 
developed  the  plan,  and  twenty-one  when  he 
took  up  his  residence  there.  Akhnaton’s  great¬ 
ness,  as  will  be  seen  later,  dates  from  the  height 
of  his  reign  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon,  and  not 
from  his  early  years.  Still,  when  one  calls  to 
mind  the  infant  prodigies,  the  child  preachers 
who  stir  an  audience  at  an  early  age,  one  may 
credit  a  boy  of  eighteen  or  nineteen  with  the 
planning  of  a  new  city.  Even  in  the  cold  Occi¬ 
dent  such  youthful  thinkers  are  not  rare,  and 
surely  they  blossom  forth  less  infrequently  in 
the  maturing  warmth  of  the  Orient.  The  Caliph 
El  Hakkim,  for  instance,  came  to  the  throne 
at  eleven  and  was  only  sixteen  when  he  issued 
his  first  religious  and  political  decrees. 


99 


IV 

AKHNATON  FORMULATES  THE 
RELIGION  OF  ATON 


“  No  such  grand  theology  had  ever  appeared  in  the  world  before, 
so  far  as  we  know  ;  and  it  is  the  forerunner  of  the  later  monotheist 
religions." — Petrie  :  “  The  Religion  of  Ancient  Egypt." 

"  Akhnaton  was  a  God-intoxicated  man,  whose  mind  responded 
with  marvellous  sensitiveness  and  discernment  to  the  visible  evidences 
of  God  about  him.” — Breasted  :  “Religion  and  Thought  in  Ancient 
Egypt.” 


1.  ATON  THE  TRUE  GOD 

Amidst  the  fair  palaces  and  verdant  gardens  of 
the  new  city,  Akhnaton,  now  a  man  of  some 
twenty-two  years,  turned  his  thoughts  fully  to 
the  development  of  his  religion.  It  is  necessary, 
therefore,  for  us  to  glance  at  the  essential  features 
of  this  the  most  enlightened  doctrine  of  the 
ancient  world,  and  in  some  degree  to  make 
ourselves  acquainted  with  the  creed  which  the 
king  himself  was  evolving  out  of  that  worship 
of  Ra-Horakhti  Aton  in  which  he  had  been 
educated. 

Originally  the  Aton  was  the  actual  sun’s  disk  ;  X 


100 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  AXON 


but,  as  has  been  said,  the  god  was  now  called 
“  Heat-which-is-in-Aton,”  and  Akhnaton,  con¬ 
centrating  his  attention  on  this  aspect  of  the 
godhead;  drew  the  eyes  of  his  followers  toward 
a  force  far  more  intangible  and  distant  than 
the  dazzling  orb  to  which  they  bowed  down. 
Akhnaton’ s  conception  of  God,  as  we  now  begin 
V  to  observe  it,  was  as  the  power  which  created 
the  sun,  the  energy  which  penetrated  to  this 
earth  in  the  sun’s  heat  and  caused  all  things 
to  grow.  At  the  present  day  the  scientist  will 
tell  you  that  God  is  the  ultimate  source  of  life, 
that  where  natural  explanation  fails  there  God 
is  to  be  found  :  He  is,  in  a  word,  the  author 
of  energy,  the  primal  motive-power  of  all  known 
things.  Akhnaton,  centuries  upon  centuries  be¬ 
fore  the  birth  of  the  scientist,  defined  God  in 
just  this  manner.  In  an  age  when  men  believed, 
as  some  do  still,  that  a  deity  was  but  an 
exaggerated  creature  of  this  earth,  having  a  form 
built  on  material  lines,  this  youthful  Pharaoh 
proclaimed  God  to  be  the  formless  essence,  the 
intelligent  germ,  the  loving  force,  which  perme¬ 
ated  time  and  space.  Let  it  be  clearly  understood 
that  the  Aton  as  conceived  by  the  young  Pharaoh 
was  in  no  sense  one  of  those  old  deities  which 
our  God  ultimately  replaced  in  Egypt.  The 
Aton  is  God  almost  as  we  conceive  Him.  There 
is  no  quality  attributed  by  the  king  to  the  Aton 


ATON  THE  TENDER  FATHER  OF  ALL  CREATION 


101 


which  we  do  not  attribute  to  our  God.  Like 
a  flash  of  blinding  light  in  the  night-time  the 
Aton  stands  out  for  a  moment  amidst  the  black 
Egyptian  darkness,  and  disappears  once  more — 
the  first  signal  to  this  world  of  the  future  religion 
of  the  West.  No  man  whose  mind  is  free  from 
prejudice  will  fail  to  see  a  far  closer  resemblance 
to  the  teachings  of  Christ  in  the  religion  of 
Akhnaton  than  in  that  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob.  The  faith  of  the  patriarchs  is  the  lineal 
ancestor  of  the  Christian  faith  ;  but  the  creed 
of  Akhnaton  is  its  isolated  prototype.  One 
might  believe  that  Almighty  God  had  for  a 
moment  revealed  himself  to  Egypt,  and  had 
been  more  clearly,  though  more  momentarily, 
interpreted  there  than  ever  He  was  in  Syria  or 
Palestine  before  the  time  of  Christ. 

2.  ATON  THE  TENDER  FATHER  OF  ALL 

CREATION 

Amon-Ra  and  the  old  gods  of  Egypt  were, 
for  the  most  part,  but  deified  mortals,  endued 
with  monstrous,  though  limited,  powers,  and 
still  having  around  them  traditions  of  aggrandised 
human  deeds.  Others,  we  have  seen,  had  their 
origin  in  natural  phenomena  ;  the  wind,  the  Nile, 
the  starry  heavens,  and  the  like.  All  were 
terrific  or  revengeful,  if  so  they  had  a  mind  to 
be,  and  all  were  able  to  be  removed  by  human 


102 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


emotions.  But  to  Akhnaton,  although  he  had 
absolutely  no  precedent  upon  which  to  launch 
his  thoughts,  God  was  the  intangible  and  yet 
ever-present  Father  of  mankind,  made  manifest 
in  sunshine.  The  youthful  high  priest  called 
upon  his  subjects  to  search  for  their  God  not 
in  the  confusion  of  battle  nor  behind  the  smoke 
of  human  sacrifices,  but  amidst  the  flowers  and 
the  trees,  amidst  the  wild  duck  and  the  fishes. 
He  preached  an  enlightened  nature-study :  in 
some  respects  he  was,  perhaps,  the  first  apostle 
of  the  Simple  Life. 

He  strove  to  break  down  conventional  thought, 
and  ceaselessly  he  urged  his  people  to  worship 
“  in  truth,”  simply,  without  an  excess  of  cere¬ 
monial.  While  the  elder  gods  had  been  apparent 
in  natural  convulsions  and  in  the  more  awful 
incidents  of  life,  Akhnaton’ s  kindly  Father  could 
be  seen  in  the  little  details  of  existence,  in  the 
growing  poppies,  in  the  soft  wind  which  filled 
the  sails  of  the  ships,  in  the  fish  which  leapt  from 
the  river.  Like  a  greater  than  he,  Akhnaton 
taught  his  disciples  to  address  their  maker  as 
their  “  Father  which  art  in  Heaven.”  The  At  on 
was  the  joy  which  caused  the  young  sheep  “  to 
dance  upon  their  legs,”  and  the  birds  “  to  flutter 
in  their  marshes.”  He  was  the  god  of  the  simple 
pleasures  of  life  ;  and  although  Akhnaton  himself 
was  indeed  a  man  of  sorrows,  plenteously 


ATON  THE  TENDER  FATHER  OF  ALL  CREATION 


103 


acquainted  with  grief,  happiness  was  the  watch¬ 
word  which  he  gave  to  his  followers. 

Akhnaton  did  not  permit  any  graven  image  to 
be  made  of  the  Aton.  The  True  God,  said  the 
king,  had  no  form  ;  and  he  held  to  this  opinion 
throughout  his  life.  The  symbol  of  the  religion 
was  the  sun’s  disk,  from  which  there  extended 
numerous  rays,  each  ray  ending  in  a  hand  ;  but 
this  symbol  was  not  worshipped.  To  Christians, 
in  the  same  way,  the  cross  is  the  symbol  of  their 
creed  ;  but  the  cross  itself  is  not  worshipped. 
Never  before  had  man  conceived  a  formless  deity, 
a  god  who  was  not  endowed  with  the  five  human 
senses.  The  Hebrew  patriarchs  believed  God 
to  be  capable  of  walking  in  a  garden  in  the  cool 
of  the  evening,  to  have  made  man  in  His  own 
image,  to  be  possessed  of  face,  form,  and  hinder 
parts.  But  Akhnaton,  stemming  with  his  hand 
the  flood  of  tradition,  boldly  proclaimed  God 
to  be  a  life-giving,  intangible  essence  :  the  heat 
which  is  in  the  sun.  He  was  “  the  living  Aton” — 
that  is  to  say,  the  power  which  produced  and 
sustained  the  energy  and  movement  of  the  sun. 
Although  he  was  so  often  called  “  the  Aton,” 
he  was  more  closely  defined  as  “  the  Master  of 
the  Aton.”1  The  flaming  glory  of  the  sun  was 
the  most  practical  symbol  of  the  godhead,  and 
the  warm  rays  of  sunshine  constituted  the  most 

*  Davies,  Amarna,  I.  45. 


104 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


obvious  connection  between  heaven  and  earth  ; 
but  always  Akhnaton  attempted  to  raise  the 
eyes  of  the  thinkers  beyond  this  visible  or  under¬ 
standable  expression  of  divinity,  to  strain  them 
upwards  in  the  effort  to  discern  that  which  was 
“  behind  the  veil.’'  In  lighting  on  a  motive 
power  more  remote  than  the  sun,  and  acting 
through  the  sun,  the  young  Pharaoh  may  be 
said  to  have  penetrated  as  far  behind  the  eternal 
barrier  as  one  may  ever  hope  to  penetrate  this 
side  the  churchyard.  But  though  so  remote,  the 
Aton  was  the  tender,  loving  Father  of  all  men, 
ever-present  and  ever-mindful  of  his  creatures. 
There  dropped  not  a  sigh  from  the  lips  of  a  babe 
that  the  intangible  Aton  did  not  hear  ;  no  lamb 
bleated  for  its  mother  but  the  remote  Aton 
hastened  to  soothe  it.  He  was  the  loving  “  Father 
and  Mother  of  all  that  He  had  made,”  who 
”  brought  up  millions  by  His  bounty.” 

The  destructive  qualities  of  the  sun  were  never 
referred  to,  and  that  pitiless  orb  under  which 
Egypt  sweats  and  groans  for  the  summer  months 
each  year  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  gentle 
Father  conceived  by  Akhnaton.  The  Aton  was 
“  the  Lord  of  Love.”  He  was  the  tender  nurse 
who  "  creates  the  man-child  in  woman,  and 
soothes  him  that  he  may  not  weep  ”  ;  whose 
love,  to  use  an  Egyptian  phrase  of  exquisite 
tenderness.  “  makes  the  hands  to  faint.”  His 


ATON  THE  TENDER  FATHER  OF  ALL  CREATION 


105 


beams  were  “  beauteous  with  love”  as  they  fell 
upon  His  people  and  upon  His  city,  “  very  rich 
in  love/’  “  Thy  love  is  great  and  large/’  says 
one  of  Akhnaton's  psalms.  “  Thou  fillest  the 
two  lands  of  Egypt  with  Thy  love  ;  ”  and  another 
passage  runs  :  “  Thy  rays  encompass  the  lands. 

.  .  .  Thou  bindest  them  with  Thy  love.” 

Surely  never  in  the  history  of  the  world  had 
man  conceived  a  god  who  “  so  loved  the  world,” 
One  may  search  the  inscriptions  in  vain  for  any 
reference  to  a  malignant  power,  to  vengeance, 
to  jealousy,  or  to  hatred.  The  Hebrew  psalmist 
said  of  God,  “  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his 
children,  even  so  is  the  Lord  merciful  ”  ;  and 
Akhnaton,  many  a  century  before  those  words 
were  written,  attributed  just  such  a  nature  to 
the  Aton.  The  Aton  was  compassionate,  was 
merciful,  was  gentle,  was  tender  ;  He  knew  not 
anger,  and  there  was  no  wrath  in  Him.  His 
overflowing  love  reached  down  the  paths  of  life 
from  mankind  to  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  to 
the  little  flowers  themselves.  “  All  flowers  blow,” 
says  one  of  Akhnaton’s  hymns,  “  and  that  which 
grows  on  the  soil  thrives  at  Thy  dawning,  O  Aton. 
They  drink  their  fill  [of  warmth]  before  Thy  face. 
All  cattle  leap  upon  their  feet ;  the  birds  that 
were  in  the  nest  fly  forth  with  joy  ;  their  wings 
which  were  closed  move  quickly  with  praise  to 
the  living  Aton.” 


106 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


One  stands  amazed  as  one  reads  in  pompous 
Egypt  of  a  god  who  listens  “  when  the  chicken 
crieth  in  the  egg-shell/’  and  gives  him  life, 
delighting  that  he  should  “  chirp  with  all  his 
might  ”  when  he  is  hatched  forth  ;  who  finds 
pleasure  in  causing  “  the  birds  to  flutter  in  their 
marshes,  and  the  sheep  to  dance  upon  their  feet.” 
For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  man  the  real 
meaning  of  God,  as  we  now  understand  it,  had 
been  comprehended  ;  and  the  idea  of  a  beneficent 
Oeator  who,  though  remote,  spiritual,  and 
impersonal,  could  love  each  one  of  His  creatures, 
great  or  small,  had  been  grasped  by  this  young 
Pharaoh.  God's  unspeakable  goodness  and 
loving-kindness  were  as  clearly  interpreted  by 
Akhnaton  as  ever  they  have  been  by  mortal 
man  ;  and  the  wonder  of  it  lies  in  this,  that 
Akhnaton  had  absolutely  nothing  to  base  his 
theories  upon.  He  was,  so  far  as  we  know,  the 
first  man  to  whom  God  revealed  Himself  as  the 
passionless,  all-loving  essence  of  unqualified 
goodness. 

3.  ATON  WORSHIPPED  AT  SUNRISE  AND  SUNSET. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  more  ignorant  of  his 
disciples  from  worshipping  the  sun  itself  Akhnaton 
seems  to  have  selected  the  sunrise  and  the  sunset 
as  the  two  hours  for  ceremonial  adoration  ;  for 
then  the  light,  the  beauty,  the  tenderness,  of 


ATON  WORSHIPPED  AT  SUNRISE  AND  SUNSET 


107 


the  celestial  phenomenon  could  be  appreciated, 
and  the  awful  majesty  of  the  sun  was  not  in 
great  prominence.  Akhnaton  attempted  to  culti¬ 
vate  in  his  followers  an  appreciation  of  the  gentle 
hues  of  daybreak  and  of  evening  ;  and  he  taught 
them  to  believe  that  the  oft-mentioned  “  beauties” 
of  the  Aton  were  only  to  be  fully  understood  at 
these  times.  In  the  gladness  of  sunrise  and  in 
the  hush  of  the  sunset,  the  emotions  are  most 
apt  to  be  touched  and  moved ;  for  in  Egypt 
there  is  always  praise  in  the  heart  in  the  cool 
opalescence  of  the  dawn,  and  in  the  red  dusk 
there  is  many  and  many  a  dream. 

Phrases  such  as  the  following  may  be  gleaned 
from  Akhnaton’ s  hymns  :  “  Thy  rising  is  beauti¬ 
ful  in  the  horizon  of  heaven,  O  living  Aton,  who 
dispensest  life  ;  shining  from  the  eastern  horizon 
of  heaven,  Thou  fillest  Egypt  with  Thy  beauty.” 
“  Thy  setting  is  beautiful,  O  living  Aton,  .  .  . 
who  guidest  ...  all  countries  that  they  may 
make  laudations  at  Thy  dawning  and  at  Thy 
setting.”  “  When  the  Aton  rises  all  the  land 
is  in  joy  ;  His  rays  produce  eyes  for  all  that  He 
has  created  ;  and  men  say,  ‘  It  is  life  to  see  Him, 
there  is  death  in  not  seeing  Him.’  ”  ”  When 

Thou  settest  alive,1  O  Aton,  West  and  East  give 
praise  to  Thee.”  “  Thou  settest  behind  the 
western  horizon ;  Thou  settest  in  life  and  gladness, 

*  The  idea  is  that  the  Aton  does  not  die  as  dies  the  sunlight. 


108 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


and  every  eye  rejoices  though  they  are  in 
darkness  after  Thou  settest.”  11  When  Thou  hast 
risen  they  live  ;  when  Thou  settest  they  die.” 

The  ceremonial  side  of  the  religion  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  complex.  The  priests,  of 
whom  there  were  very  few,  offered  sacrifices, 
consisting  mostly  of  vegetables,  fruit,  and  flowers, 
to  the  Aton,  and  at  these  ceremonies  the  king 
and  his  family  often  officiated.  They  then  sang 
psalms  and  offered  prayers,  and,  with  much 
sweet  music,  gave  praise  to  the  great  Father  of 
joy  and  love.  The  Aton,  however,  was  not 
thought  to  delight  in  these  ceremonies  as  He 
did  in  more  natural  thanksgivings.  Why  should 
God  be  praised  in  set  phrases  and  studied  poses 
when  all  the  fair  world  was  shouting  for  the 
joy  of  Him  ?  The  young  calf  frisking  through 
the  poppy-covered  meadows,  the  birds  singing 
upon  the  trees,  the  clouds  racing  across  the  sky, 
were  the  true  worshippers  of  God. 

One  of  the  recently  discovered  sayings  of 
Christ  closely  parallels  Akhnaton’ s  utterances. 
“Ye  ask,”  it  runs,  “  who  are  those  that  draw 
us  to  the  kingdom  if  the  kingdom  is  in  heaven  ? 
The  fowls  of  the  air,  and  all  the  beasts  that  are 
under  the  earth  or  upon  the  earth,  and  the  fishes 
in  the  sea,  these  are  they  which  draw  you,  and 
the  kingdom  is  within  you.”  The  contemplation 
of  nature  was  more  to  Akhnaton  than  many 


THE  GOODNESS  OF  ATON 


109 


ceremonies,  and  his  thoughts  were  more  easily 
drawn  upwards  by  the  rustle  of  the  leaves  than 
by  the  shaking  of  the  systrum. 

4.  THE  GOODNESS  OF  ATON 

In  the  gardens  of  the  City  of  the  Horizon 
Akhnaton  was  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the 
joyous  beauties  of  nature.  Here  the  birds  sang 
merrily  in  the  laden  trees,  here  the  cool  north 
wind  rustled  through  the  leaves,  setting  them 
dancing  upon  their  stems,  here  the  many-coloured 
blossoms  nodded  to  their  reflections  in  the  still 
lakes  ;  and,  as  he  watched  the  sunlight  playing 
with  the  blue  shadows,  his  heart  seemed  to  fill 
to  repletion  with  gratitude  to  God.  “  O  Lord, 
how  manifold  are  Thy  works  !  ”  was  his  constant 
cry.  “  The  whole  land  is  in  joy  and  holiday 
because  of  Thee.  They  shout  to  the  height  of 
heaven,  they  receive  joy  and  gladness  when  they 
see  Thee.”  How  “  fair  of  form  ”  was  the  form¬ 
less  Aton,  how  “  radiant  of  colour  ”  1  “  All  that 
Thou  hast  made,”  said  the  king,  “  leaps  before 
Thee.”  ”  Thou  makes!  the  beauty  of  form 
through  Thyself  alone.”  “  Eyes  have  life  at 
sight  of  Thy  beauty  ;  hearts  have  health  when 
the  Aton  shines.” 

As  the  psalmist  sang,  “  The  Lord  is  my  shep¬ 
herd,  I  shall  not  want,”  so  Akhnaton,  in  the 
fulness  of  his  heart,  cried,  “  There  is  no  poverty 


110 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


for  him  who  hath  set  Thee  in  his  heart ;  such 
an  one  cannot  say,  ‘  O,  that  I  had/  ”  “  When 

Thou  bringest  life  to  men’s  hearts  by  Thy  beauty, 
there  is  indeed  life.”  The  Aton  “  gave  health 
to  the  eyes  by  His  rays,”  and,  “  bright,  great, 
gleaming,  high  above  all  the  earth,”  He  was 
“  the  cause  of  plenty,”  the  very  “  food  and 
fatness  of  Egypt.”  To  David,  several  centuries 
later,  God  seemed  to  be  “  a  strong  tower  of 
defence  ”  ;  and,  thinking  along  the  same  lines, 
Akhnaton  called  the  Aton  his  “  wall  of  brass  of 
a  million  cubits.”  The  Aton  was  “  the  witness 
of  that  which  pertains  to  eternity,”  and  to  those 
whose  thoughts  had  strayed  he  was  “  the  remem¬ 
brancer  of  eternity.”  He  was  the  “  Lord  of 
Fate,”  the  “  Lord  of  Fortune,”  the  “  Master  of 
that  which  is  ordained,”  the  “  Origin  of  Fate,” 
the  “  Chance  which  gives  Life  ”  ;  and  in  so 
describing  him  Akhnaton  reached  a  philosophical 
position  which  even  to-day  is  quite  unassailable. 

Unlike  Jehovah,  who  was  described  as  “  great 
above  all  other  gods,”  the  Aton  was  conceived 
as  being  without  rivals ;  and  Akhnaton  now 
never  mentions  the  word  “  gods.”  “  The  living 
Aton  beside  whom  there  is  no  other,”  is  one 
of  the  common  phrases  ;  and  of  Him  again  it  is 
written,  “  Thou  art  alone,  but  infinite  vitalities 
are  in  Thee  by  means  of  which  to  give  life  to 
Thy  creatures.” 


THE  GOODNESS  OF  ATON 


111 


Unlike  Jehovah  again,  who  was  not  infre¬ 
quently  thought  to  be  a  wrathful  god,  surrounded 
by  clouds  and  darkness,  and  speaking  through 
the  roar  of  the  thunders,  the  Aton  was  the  “  Lord 
of  Peace,”  who  could  not  tolerate  battle  and 
strife.  Akhnaton  was  so  opposed  to  war  that 
he  persistently  refused  to  offer  an  armed  re¬ 
sistance  to  the  subsequent  revolts  which  occurred 
in  his  Asiatic  dominions.  The  Aton  was  a  deity 
to  whose  tender  heart  human  bloodshed  made 
no  appeal.  In  an  age  of  martial  glory,  when 
the  sword  and  buckler,  the  plumed  helmet  and 
the  shirt  of  mail,  glittered  in  every  street  and 
upon  every  highway,  Akhnaton  set  himself  in 
opposition  to  all  heroics,  and  saw  God  without 
melodrama. 

Above  all  things  the  Aton  loved  truth.  Frank¬ 
ness,  sincerity,  straightforwardness,  honesty,  and 
veracity  were  qualities  not  always  to  be  found 
in  the  heart  of  an  Egyptian  ;  and  Akhnaton,  in 
antagonism  to  the  sins  of  hypocrisy  and  decep¬ 
tion  which  he  saw  around  him,  always  spoke  of 
himself  as  “  living  in  truth.”  ”  I  have  set  truth 
in  my  inward  parts,”  says  one  of  his  followers, 
”  and  falsehood  is  my  loathing  ;  for  I  know  that 
the  King  rejoiceth  in  truth.” 

Another  point  in  Akhnaton’ s  teaching  is  appar¬ 
ent  from  the  scenes,  discovered  by  the  present 
writer,  in  the  tomb  of  Ramose.  There  is  a  scene 


112 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


often  represented  upon  the  walls  of  tombs  of 
Dynasty  XVIII  which  seems  to  represent  human 
sacrifice.  The  figure  of  a  man  is  seen  dragged 
to  the  tomb  upon  a  sledge,  and  Sir  Gaston  Maspero 
has  pointed  out  that  this  can  hardly  be  anything 
else  than  such  a  sacrifice.  This  scene  was  shown 
on  one  of  the  walls  of  the  tomb  of  Ramose,  and 
evidently  dated  from  a  period  previous  to 
Akhnaton’s  revolution.  When,  however,  the 
young  king  had  formulated  his  religion  of  love 
he  could  not  tolerate  a  barbaric  and  cruel  cere¬ 
mony  of  this  kind.  We  thus  find  that  the  entire 
scene  is  here  obliterated,  almost  certainly  by  the 
king's  agents.  The  objection  to  human  sacrifice 
is  closely  in  accord  with  his  objection  to  human 
suffering  as  recorded  on  page  152. 

5.  AKHNATON  THE  “SON  OF  GOD”  BY 
TRADITIONAL  RIGHT 

It  may  be  understood  how  the  young  man 
longed  for  truth  in  all  things  when  one  remembers 
the  thousand  exaggerated  conventions  of  Egyptian 
life  at  this  time.  Court  etiquette  had  developed 
to  a  degree  which  rendered  life  to  the  Pharaoh 
an  endless  round  of  unnatural  poses  of  mind  and 
body.  In  the  preaching  of  his  doctrine  of  truth 
and  simplicity  Akhnaton  did  not  fail  to  call  upon 
his  subjects  to  regard  their  Pharaoh  not  as  a 
celestial  god,  as  had  been  the  custom,  but  as 


AKHNATON,  “  SON  OF  GOD  ”  BY  RIGHT  113 

a  man,  though,  of  course,  one  of  divine  origin. 
It  was  usual  for  the  Pharaoh  to  keep  aloof  from 
his  people  :  Akhnaton  was  to  be  found  in  their 
midst.  The  court  demanded  that  their  lord 
should  drive  in  .Solitary  state  through  the  city  : 
Akhnaton  stood  in  his  chariot  with  his  wife  and 


AKHNATON'  DRIVING  WITH  HIS  WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER. 

children,  and  allowed  the  artist  to  represent  him 
joking  therein  with  his  little  daughter.  In  por¬ 
traying  the  Pharaoh  the  artist  was  expected  to 
draw  him  in  some  conventional  attitude  of 
dignity  :  Akhnaton  insisted  upon  being  shown 
in  all  manner  of  natural  attitudes — now  leaning 
languidly  upon  a  staff,  now  nursing  his  children. 


114  AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 

and  now  eating  his  dinner.  Thus  again  one 
sees  his  objection  to  heroics,  and  his  love  of 
naturalness. 

But  while  he  strove  for  truth  and  sincerity 
in  this  manner  he  did  not  attempt  to  remove 
from  his  mind  the  belief  in  which  he  had  been 
brought  up,  that  as  Pharaoh  of  Egypt  he  was 
himself  partly  divine.  Not  only  was  he  by 
reason  of  his  religion  the  representative,  and 
hence,  in  a  manner  of  speech,  the  “  son  ”  of  God, 
but  by  right  of  royal  descent  he  was  the  “  son 
of  the  Sun.”  The  names  of  the  Pharaohs  were 
always  surrounded  by  an  oval  band,  known  as 
a  cartouche,  which  was  the  distinguishing  mark 
of  a  royal  name.  Akhnaton  wrote  the  name 
of  the  Aton  within  such  an  oval,  thus  indicating 
that  the  Pharaoh’s  royal  rights  were  also  held 
by,  and  therefore  derived  from,  God  Himself. 
There  was  thus,  as  Christ  later  taught  His  disciples 
to  believe,  a  kingdom  of  heaven  over  which  God 
presided ;  and  although  impersonal,  intangible, 
and  incomprehensible,  the  Aton  was  the  very 
“  Kings  of  kings,  the  only  ruler  of  princes.” 
Amon-Ra  and  other  of  the  old  deities  had  been 
called  at  various  times  “  King  of  the  gods.” 
Akhnaton,  however,  applied  to  Aton  the  words 
“  King  and  God.” 

Akhnaton  is  spoken  of  as  “  the  unique  one  of 
Ra,  whose  beauties  Aton  created,”  and  as  “  the 


AKHNATON,  “  SON  OF  GOD  ”  BY  RIGHT  115 

beloved  son  of  Aton,”  whom  “  Aton  bare.” 
Addressing  the  Aton,  his  courtiers  were  wont  to 
say,  “  Thy  rays  are  on  Thy  bright  image,  the 
Ruler  of  Truth  ( i.e.t  the  King),  who  proceeded 
from  eternity.  Thou  givest  to  him  Thy  duration 
and  Thy  years  ;  Thou  hearkenest  to  all  that  is 
in  his  heart,  because  Thou  lovest  him.  Thou 
makest  him  like  the  Aton,  him  Thy  child,  the 
King.”  “  Thou  lookest  on  him,  for  he  proceeded1 
from  Thee/’  “  Thou  hast  placed  him  beside 
Thee  for  ever  and  ever,  for  he  loves  to  gaze  upon 
Thee.  .  .  .  Thou  hast  set  him  there  till  the 
swan  shall  turn  black  and  the  crow  turn  white, 
till  the  hills  rise  up  to  travel  and  the  deeps  rush 
into  the  rivers.”  “  While  heaven  is,  he  shall 
be.”  Some  of  the  Pharaohs  had  called  them¬ 
selves  “  the  beautiful  child  of  Amon  ”  ;  and 
Akhnaton,  borrowing  this  phrase,  was  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  “  the  beautiful  child  of  the  Aton.”2 

In  his  capacity  as  Pharaoh  and  “  son  of  God,” 
Akhnaton  demanded  and  received  a  very  con¬ 
siderable  amount  of  ceremonial  homage ;  but 
he  never  blinded  himself  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
primarily  but  a  simple  man.  He  most  sincerely 
wished  that  his  private  life  should  be  a  worthy 
example  to  his  subjects,  and  he  earnestly  desired 

*  Probably  by  royal  descent  is  meant. 

a  In  the  tomb  of  a  certain  Amenhotep,  at  El  Assastf,  temp.  Amen- 
ophis  III.,  the  deceased  Amenophis  I.  is  called  **  The  beautiful  child 
of  Amon/’ 


116 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


that  it  should  be  observed  in  all  its  naturalness 
and  simplicity.  He  did  his  utmost  to  elevate 
the  position  of  women  and  the  sancity  of  the 
family  by  displaying  to  the  world  the  ideal  con¬ 
ditions  of  his  own  married  life.  He  made  a  point 
of  caressing  his  wife  in  public,  putting  his  arm 
around  her  neck  in  the  sight  of  all  men  ;  and  in 
a  little  ornament  now  in  the  possession  of  Colonel 
Anderson,  he  is  shown  kissing  his  queen,  their 
lips  being  pressed  together.  As  we  have  seen, 
one  of  his  forms  of  oath  was,  “  As  my  heart  is 
happy  in  the  Queen  and  her  children.  .  . 

He  spoke  of  his  wife  always  as  “  Mistress  of  his 
happiness,  ...  at  hearing  whose  voice  the 
King  rejoices/’  “  Lady  of  grace  ”  was  she, 
“  great  of  love  ”  and  “  fair  of  face.”  Every  wish 
that  she  expressed,  declared  Akhnaton,  was 
executed  by  him.  Even  on  the  most  ceremonious 
occasions  the  queen  sat  beside  her  husband  and 
held  his  hand,  while  their  children  frolicked 
around  them ;  for  such  things  pleased  that 
gentle  Father  more  than  the  savour  of  burnt- 
offerings.  It  is  seldom  that  the  Pharaoh  is 
represented  in  the  reliefs  without  his  family ; 
and,  in  opposition  to  all  tradition,  the  queen 
is  shown  upon  the  same  scale  of  size  and  im¬ 
portance  as  that  of  her  husband.  Akhnaton’s 
devotion  to  his  children  is  very  marked,  and  he 
taught  his  disciples  to  believe  that  God  was  the 


CONNECTIONS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIP 


117 


father,  the  mother,  the  nurse,  and  the  friend  of 
the  young.  Thus,  though  “  son  of  God,”  Akh- 
naton  preached  the  beauty  of  the  human  family, 
and  laid  stress  on  the  sanctity  of  marriage  and 
parenthood. 

6.  THE  CONNECTIONS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIP 
WITH  OLDER  RELIGIONS 

In  developing  his  religion  Akhnaton  must  have 
come  into  almost  daily  conflict  with  the  priest¬ 
hoods  of  the  old  gods  of  Egypt ;  and  even  the 
Heliopolitan  Ra-Horakhti,  from  which  his  own 
faith  had  been  evolved,  now  fell  far  short  of 
his  ideals.  He  does  not  seem,  however,  to  have 
yet  imposed  the  worship  of  the  Aton  upon  the 
provinces,  nor  to  have  persecuted  the  various 
priesthoods.  He  hoped,  no  doubt,  that  he  would 
be  able  to  persuade  the  whole  country  to  his 
views  as  soon  as  those  views  were  thoroughly 
matured ;  and,  secure  in  his  new  city,  he  was 
free  to  purge  his  religion  of  its  faults  before 
declaring  all  other  creeds  illegal. 

It  is  probable  that  the  sacred  bull,  Mnevis, 
was  banished  from  his  ceremonies  at  an  early 
date,  for  no  tombs  seem  to  have  been  made  for 
these  holy  creatures,  and  they  are  not  referred 
to  after  the  sixth  year  of  the  king's  reign.  The 
priests  of  Heliopolis  would  now  have  hardly 
recognised  their  doctrines  in  the  exalted  faith 


118 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


of  the  Aton,  though  here  and  there  some  point 
of  close  contact  might  have  been  observed.  One 
may  also  detect  slight  resemblances  to  the  Adonis 
religions  of  Syria,  from  whence  the  Aton  had 
originally  come.  Mention  has  already  been  made 
of  the  worship  of  Adonis.  So  widespread  was 
that  deity's  power  that  it  very  naturally  affected 
many  other  religions.  In  the  Biblical  Psalms 
one  finds  several  echoes  of  this  old  pagan  worship, 
as  for  example  in  the  lines  from  Psalm  xix,  which 
read : — 

The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God.  .  .  . 

In  them  hath  he  set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun, 

Which  is  a  bridegroom  coming  out  of  his  chamber, 

And  he  rejoiceth  as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race. 

There  is  nothing  hid  from  the  heat  thereof. 

Here  one  surely  must  recognise  the  youthful 
Adonis,  the  bridegroom  of  Venus.  And  similarly 
in  the  Heliopolitan  worship,  at  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  Akhnaton's  reign,  the  sun,  Ra,  is  referred 
to  in  the  following  terms  :  “  Thou  art  beautiful 
and  youthful  as  Aton  before  thy  mother  Hathor 
[Venus].” 

In  Akhnaton's  religion  one  may  still  catch 
a  fleeting  glimpse  of  Adonis.  One  of  the  king's 
courtiers,  named  May,  held  the  office  of  “  Over¬ 
seer  of  the  House  for  sending  Aton  to  rest.”1 
Akhnaton's  queen  is  mentioned  in  the  tomb  of 

«  So  Prof.  Breasted  translates  the  Egyptian  sehetep,  though  it 
would  be  possible  to  give  it  other  interpretations. 


CONNECTIONS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIP  lid 

Ay  under  the  peculiar  title  of  "  She  who  sends 
the  Aton  to  rest  with  a  sweet  voice,  and  with 
her  two  beautiful  hands  bearing  two  systrums.'' 
This  “  house  ”  was,  no  doubt,  the  temple  at 
which  the  vesper  prayers  to  the  Aton  were  said 
at  sunset,  and  from  the  above  title  of  the  queen 
it  would  seem  that  she  had  particular  charge  of 
these  evening  ceremonies.  One  cannot  contem¬ 
plate  the  fact  that  it  was  a  woman  who  officiated 
at  a  ceremony  which  consisted  of  a  lament1  for 
the  departure  of  the  sun  without  seeing  in  it 
some  connection,  however  faint,  with  the  story 
of  Venus  and  Adonis.  The  lament  of  Venus  for 
the  death  of  Adonis — i.e.,  the  setting  of  the  sun 
— was  one  of  the  fundamental  ceremonies  of  the 
Mediterranean  religions.  Here  again  was  a  con¬ 
nection  with  an  older  religion  for  Akhnaton  to 
consider  and  perhaps  to  purge  away  ;  and  one 
may  suppose  that  all  such  derivatives  from 
earlier  faiths  were  gradually  eliminated  as  the 
young  king  developed  his  creed.  Soon  not  a 
scrap  of  superstition  remained  in  the  religion ; 
and  one  may  credit  this  Pharaoh  of  three  thousand 
years  ago  with  as  great  a  freedom  from  the 
trammels  of  traditional  superstition  as  that  of 
the  advanced  thinker  of  to-day. 


i  Cf.  such  expressions  as  “  when  thou  settest  they  die,”  and 
others  used  in  Akhnaton's  hymns. 


120 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


7.  THE  SPIRITUAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL 

AFTER  DEATH 

“  Truly  the  light  is  sweet,  and  a  pleasant  thing 
it  is  for  the  eyes  to  behold  the  sun,”  says  Holy 
Writ  in  words  which  might  have  fallen  from 
the  lips  of  Akhnaton  ;  “  but  though  a  man  live 
many  years  and  rejoice  in  them  all,  yet  let  him 
remember  the  days  of  darkness,  for  they  shall 
be  many.”  As  Akhnaton  had  completely  revolu¬ 
tionised  the  beliefs  of  the  Egyptians  as  to  the 
nature  of  God,  so  he  altered  and  purged  their 
theories  regarding  the  existence  of  the  soul  after 
death.  According  to  the  old  beliefs,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  soul  of  a  man  had  to  pass  through 
awful  places  up  to  the  judgment  throne  of  Osiris, 
where  he  was  weighed  in  the  balances.  If  he 
was  found  wanting  he  was  devoured  by  a  ferocious 
monster,  but  if  the  scales  turned  in  his  favour 
he  was  accepted  into  the  Elysian  fields.  So 
many  were  the  spirits,  bogies,  and  demigods 
which  he  was  likely  to  meet  before  the  goal  was 
reached  that  he  had  to  know  by  heart  a  tedious 
string  of  formulae,  the  correct  repetition  of  which, 
and  the  correct  making  of  the  related  magic, 
alone  ensured  his  safe  passage. 

Akhnaton  flung  all  these  formulae  into  the  fire. 
Djins,  bogies,  spirits,  monsters,  demigods,  de¬ 
mons,  and  Osiris  himself  with  all  his  court,  were 


SPIRITUAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL  AFTER  DEATH  121 

swept  into  the  blaze  and  reduced  to  ashes. 
Akhnaton  believed  that  when  a  man  died  his 
soul  continued  to  exist  as  a  kind  of  astral,  im¬ 
material  ghost,  sometimes  resting  in  the  dreamy 
halls  of  heaven,  and  sometimes  visiting,  in 
shadowy  form,  the  haunts  of  the  earthly  life. 
By  some  of  the  inscriptions  one  is  led  to  suppose 
that,  as  in  the  fourth  article  of  the  Christian 
faith,  so  in  the  teachings  of  Akhnaton,  the  body 
was  thought  to  take  again  after  death  its  “  flesh, 
bones,  and  all  things  appertaining  to  the  perfec¬ 
tion  of  man's  nature.”  But  just  as  there  is 
some  doubt  and  some  vagueness  in  the  mind  of 
Christian  thinkers  as  to  the  meaning  of  this 
article,  so  in  Akhnaton' s  doctrine  there  was 
some  uncertainty  as  to  whether  the  body  was 
entirely  spiritual  or  in  a  manner  material  in  its 
hazy  existence  in  the  Hills  of  the  West.  The 
disembodied  soul  still  craved  the  pleasures  of 
earthly  life  and  shunned  its  sorrows  ;  still  felt 
hunger  and  thirst  and  enjoyed  a  draught  of  water 
or  a  meal  of  solid  food ;  still  warmed  itself  in 
the  sunshine  or  sought  coolness  in  the  shadows. 

We  hear  nothing  of  hell ;  for  Akhnaton,  in 
the  tenderness  of  his  heart,  could  not  bring 
himself  to  believe  that  God  would  allow  suffering 
in  any  of  His  creatures,  however  sinful.  The 
inscriptions  seem  rather  to  indicate  that  there 
was  no  future  life  for  the  wicked — that  they 


122 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


were  annihilated ;  though  in  almost  every  man 
one  may  suppose  that  there  was  enough  good 
to  recommend  him  to  the  mercy  of  a  God  so 
loving  as  the  Aton. 

The  first  great  wish  of  the  deceased  was  that 
he  might  each  day  leave  the  dim  underworld  in 
order  to  see  the  light  of  the  sun  upon  earth. 
This  had  been  the  prayer  of  the  Egyptians  from 
time  immemorial,  and  to  suit  the  religion  of 
the  Aton  its  wording  alone  was  changed.  The 
disciple  of  Akhnaton  asked  to  be  allowed  “  to 
go  out  from  the  underworld  in  the  morning  to 
see  Aton  as  he  rises.”  He  prayed  insistently, 
passionately,  in  varied  language,  that  his  spirit 
might  “  go  forth  to  see  the  sun's  rays,”  that  his 
“  two  eyes  might  be  opened  to  see  the  sun,” 
that  there  might  be  “  no  failure  to  see  it,”  that 
the  “  vision  of  the  sun's  fair  face  might  never  be 
lost  to  him,”  that  he  “  might  obtain  a  sight  of 
the  beauty  of  each  recurring  sunrise,”  and  that 
“  the  sun's  rays  might  spread  over  his  body.” 
Sometimes  it  is  the  Aton  whom  the  soul  thus 
craves  to  see  ;  sometimes  it  is  Ra,  the  sun  ;  but 
always  it  seems  to  be  the  actual  light  and 
warmth  of  the  sunshine  which  is  so  passionately 
desired.  The  abstract  conditions  of  the  future 
life  could  but  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  human 
experience ;  and  in  contemplating  that  cold, 
desolate  mystery  of  death,  Akhnaton  could  find 


SPIRITUAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL  AFTER  DEATH  123 

no  better  means  of  banishing  the  gloom  than  by 
praying  for  a  continuance  of  the  blessed  light 
of  the  day.  And  the  man  who  prayed  that  his 
soul  might  see  the  sunshine  but  asked  that  he 
might  still  know  the  joy  of  the  presence  of  God, 
for  God  was  the  light  of  the  world. 

His  second  wish  was  that  he  might  retain  the 
favour  of  the  king  and  queen  after  death,  and 
that  his  soul  might  serve  their  souls  in  the 
palaces  of  the  dead.  He  asks  for  “  readiness  in 
the  presence  of  the  King  ”  to  do  his  bidding  ; 
he  prays  that  he  may  be  admitted  into  the  palace, 
“  entering  it  in  favour  and  leaving  it  in  love  ”  ; 
that  he  may  “  attend  the  King  every  day  ”  ; 
and  that  he  may  “  receive  honour  in  the  presence 
of  the  King.” 

For  his  mental  contentment  in  the  underworld 
he  earnestly  desired  that  “  his  name  might  be 
remembered  and  established  on  earth,”  that 
there  might  be  “  a  happy  memory  of  him  in 
the  King’s  palace,”  and  “  a  continuance  of  his 
name  in  the  mouths  of  the  courtiers,”  where  he 
hoped  that  it  “  might  be  welcome.”  “  May  my 
name  thrive  in  the  tomb-chapel,”  he  says.  “  May 
my  name  not  be  to  seek  in  my  mansion.  May 
it  be  celebrated  for  ever.”  So,  too,  at  the  present 
day  the  words  In  Memoriam  are  goodly  words; 
and  that  a  man's  memory  may  be  kept  green  is 
a  thing  very  generally  desired. 


124 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


8.  THE  MATERIAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL 

In  order  that  the  soul  might  have  its  link 
with  earth,  the  worshipper  of  the  Aton  prayed 
that  his  mummy  might  remain  “  firm  ”  and 
uncorrupted,  that  the  “  flesh  might  live  upon 
the  bones,”  and  that  his  limbs  might  remain 
"  knit  together.”  The  Egyptians  of  other  days 
believed  that  the  body  itself  would  live  again 
at  the  resurrection,  this  being  the  reason  why 
they  attempted  so  carefully  to  preserve  it  ;  and 
Akhnaton  does  not  appear  to  have  altered  this 
conception  of  the  nature  of  the  material  body. 
So,  too,  in  the  Christian  faith  it  is  thought  that 
at  the  last  day  the  graves  will  give  up  their  dead. 

The  spiritual  body  retained  the  form  and  the 
individuality  of  the  material  body,  and  therefore, 
in  a  somewhat  vague  manner,  it  was  thought 
that  the  needs  of  the  soul  would  not  be  very 
dissimilar  from  those  of  the  body  upon  earth. 
Christ,  after  His  resurrection,  asked  for  food  ; 
and  the  feasts  of  Paradise  are  more  than  allegory 
to  many  a  Christian.  Likewise  the  follower  of 
Akhnaton  believed  that  material  food,  or  its 
spiritual  equivalent,  would  be  necessary  to  the 
soul’s  welfare  in  the  next  world.  “  May  I  be 
called  by  my  name,”  says  he,  "  and  come  at  the 
summons,  in  order  to  feed  upon  the  good  things 
provided  upon  the  temple  altar.”  It  would  seem 


THE  MATERIAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL 


125 


that  through  fidelity  to  the  Aton  creed  he  might 
have  the  privilege  of  partaking  of  the  offerings 
made  at  the  great  ceremonies  in  the  temple ; 
for,  after  these  sacrifices  had  been  offered,  the 
food,  probably,  was  distributed  to  the  priests 
and  to  those  attached  to  the  tombs,  who  repre¬ 
sented  the  interests  of  the  dead.  Thus  the 
deceased  prays  that  he  may  enjoy  “  a  reception 
of  that  which  has  been  offered  in  the  temple  ”  ; 
“  a  reception  of  offerings  of  the  King’s  giving  in 
every  shrine  ”  ;  “  a  drink-offering  in  the  temple 
of  Aton  ”  ;  “  food  deposited  on  the  altar  every 
day  ”  ;  and  “  everything  that  is  offered  in  the 
sanctuary  of  Aton  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of 
Aton.”  He  further  asks  that  “  wine  may  be 
poured  out ”  for  him,  and  that  “  the  children  of 
his  house  may  spill  a  libation  for  him  at  the 
entrance  of  his  tomb.” 

While  life  lasted  God  was  very  apparent  to 
those  who  sought  Him.  Wherever  the  sun  shone, 
wherever  the  great  pulse  of  the  earth  beat 
beneath  one,  wherever  the  river  flowed  or  the 
garden  bloomed,  there  was  God  to  be  found ; 
for  God  was  happiness,  was  beauty,  was  love. 
But  when  the  cold  mists  of  death  had  enveloped 
a  man,  when  there  was  no  longer  any  spring¬ 
time  nor  any  opening  of  the  blossoms,  how  should 
there  be  contentment  any  more  ?  From  the 
depths  of  his  heart  Akhnaton  urged  his  followers 


126 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


to  pray  God  that  He  might  provide  this  happi¬ 
ness,  though  it  could  only  be  voiced  in  very 
human  words.  It  was  not  “  sweet  perfume  ” 
nor  “  the  smell  of  incense  ”  that  the  soul  re¬ 
quired  ;  but  how  else  could  the  pleasure  of  light¬ 
heartedness  be  worded  ?  They  prayed  that  their 
“  limbs  might  be  provided  with  pleasure  every 
day.”  In  the  stagnant  air  of  the  tomb  they 
craved  for  the  touch  of  the  “  sweet  breeze,”  for 
“  the  breath  of  the  pleasant  airs  of  the  north 
wind.”  They  hoped  in  shadowy  form  to  be  able 
to  visit  the  beloved  scenes  of  their  lifetime. 
"  May  I  raise  myself  up  and  forget  languor,” 
prays  one.  “  May  I  leave  and  enter  my  mansion,” 
says  another.  “  May  my  soul  not  be  shut  off 
from  that  which  it  desires.  May  I  walk  as  I  will 
in  the  grove  that  I  have  made  upon  earth.  May 
I  drink  the  water  at  the  edge  of  my  lake  every 
day  without  ceasing.”  “  May  water  be  poured 
out  from  my  cistern,”  cries  a  third ;  “  may 

I  receive  fruit  from  my  trees.”  Incessantly  each 
man  implores  God  to  grant  that  he  may  cool 
his  parched  lips  with  water.  “  A  draught  of 
water  at  the  banks  of  the  river,”  is  his  desire ; 
“  a  draught  of  water  at  the  swirl  of  the  stream.” 
While  he  smells  “  the  scent  of  the  wind  ”  blowing 
amidst  the  petals  of  “  a  bouquet  of  Aton,”  and 
while  there  runs  “  a  brook  of  water  ”  by  his  side, 
he  need  not  know  the  horror  of  death.  And  thus, 


THE  MATERIAL  NEEDS  OF  THE  SOUL 


127 


by  receiving  “  everything  good  and  sweet/ *  he 
may  hope  for  "  health  and  prosperity  ”  in  the 
hills  and  the  valleys  of  the  West ;  for  a  “  happy 
life,  provided  with  pleasure  and  joy/’  for  41  amuse¬ 
ment,  merriment,  and  delight,”  and  for  a  “  daily 
rejoicing  ”  throughout  eternity. 

It  may  be  argued  that  this  material  conception 
of  the  life  after  death  is  not  equal  in  purity  of 
tone  to  the  faith  of  the  Aton.  But  is  it,  then, 
less  lofty  to  believe  in  a  heaven  in  which  there 
is  joy  and  laughter,  a  scent  of  flowers,  and  a 
breath  of  north  wind,  than  in  one  where  the 
streets  are  paved  with  gold,  and  where  there  are 
many  mansions  ?  By  no  religion  in  the  world 
is  Christianity  so  closely  approached  as  by 
the  faith  of  Akhnaton  ;  and  if  the  Pharaoh's 
doctrines  as  to  immortality  are  not  altogether 
convincing,  neither  are  the  Christian  doctrines, 
as  they  are  now  interpreted,  altogether  without 
fault.  In  the  above  pages  it  has  been  necessary 
always  to  compare  Akhnaton' s  creed  with 
Christianity,  since  there  is  so  much  common  to 
the  two  religions ;  but  it  should  be  remembered 
that  this  comparison  must  of  necessity  be  un¬ 
favourable  to  the  Pharaoh's  doctrine,  revealing 
as  it  does  its  shortcomings.  Let  the  reader 
remember  that  Akhnaton  lived  some  thirteen 
hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  at  an 
age  when  the  world  was  steeped  in  superstition 


128 


AKHNATON  FORMULATES  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


and  sunk  in  the  fogs  of  idolatry.  Bearing  this 
in  mind,  he  will  not  fail  to  see  in  that  tenderly 
loving  Father  whom  the  boy-Pharaoh  worshipped 
an  early  revelation  of  the  God  to  whom  we  of 
the  present  day  bow  down  ;  and  once  more  he 
will  find  how  true  are  the  words — 

"  God  fulfils  Himself  in  many  ways." 


129 


V 

THE  TENTH  TO  THE  TWELFTH  YEARS 
OF  THE  REIGN  OF  AKHNATON 


One  must  be  moved  with  involuntary  admiration  for  the  young 
king  who  in  such  an  age  found  such  thoughts  in  his  heart." — Breasted 
"  History  of  Egypt." 


1.  THE  HYMNS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIPPERS 

In  the  tombs  of  rich  persons  who  had  lived  and 

died  previous  to  the  time  of  Akhnaton,  a  large 

% 

portion  of  the  walls  had  been  covered  with 
religious  inscriptions ;  and  when  at  first  the 
nobles  of  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton  were 
planning  their  sepulchres  they  must  have  been 
at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  substitute  for  these 
forbidden  formulae.  Soon,  however,  it  became 
the  custom  to  write  there  short  extracts  from 
the  hymns  which  were  sung  in  the  temples  of 
the  Aton.  In  a  few  cases  these  inscriptions 
supply  us  with  a  definite  psalm,  which,  although 
short,  seems  to  be  complete.  In  one  tomb — 
that  of  Ay — however,  there  is  a  copy  of  a  much 
more  elaborate  hymn  ;  and  it  would  thus  seem 


L 


130 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


that  there  were  two  main  psalms  in  use  in  the 
temples,  a  longer  and  a  shorter  version  of  the 
same  composition. 

It  was  not  unusual  for  the  Egyptians  to  com¬ 
pose  hymns  in  honour  of  their  gods,  and  a  few 
such  have  been  preserved  to  us  upon  the  walls 
of  the  old  temples.  Like  the  Hebrew  psalms  of 
Later  date,  they  were  not  always  of  a  very  high 
moral  tone.  They  are  often  but  chants  of 
victory,  dealing  in  battles,  in  thunders,  and  in 
tempests,  and  glorying  in  the  wrath  of  heaven. 
The  longer  hymn  to  the  Aton,  which  is  here 
given  in  full,1  is  quite  unlike  any  of  these  com¬ 
positions,  and  both  in  purity  of  tone  and  in 
beauty  of  style  it  must  rank  high  amongst  the 
poems  of  antiquity. 

Thy  dawring  is  beautiful  in  the  horizon  of  heaven, 

O  living  Aton,  Beginning  of  life  ! 
v '•'nen  Thou  risest  in  the  eastern  horizon  of  heaven, 

Tnou  fillest  even'  land  with  Thy  beauty  ; 

For  Thou  are  beautiful,  great,  glittering,  high  over  the  earth  ; 
Thy  rays..  they  encompass  the  lands,  even  all  Thou  hast  made. 
Thou  art  Ra  and  Thou  hast  carried  them  all  away  captive  ; 
Tnou  bindest  them  by  Thy  love. 

Though  Thou  art  afar,  Thy  rays  are  on  earth  ; 

Tnougd  Thou  art  on  high.  Thy  footprints  are  the  day. 

Vher.  Thou  settest  in  the  western  horizon  of  heaven, 

The  world  is  in  darkness  like  the  dead. 

Her.  sieep  in  their  chambers. 


i  Professor  Breasted’ s  translation 


THE  HYMNS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIPPERS 


131 


Their  heads  are  wrapped  up, 

Their  nostrils  stopped,  and  none  seeth  the  other. 
Stolen  are  all  their  things  that  are  under  their  heads, 
While  they  know  it  not. 

Every  lion  cometh  forth  from  his  den. 

All  serpents,  they  sting. 

Darkness  reigns, 

The  world  is  in  silence  : 

He  that  made  them  has  gone  to  rest  in  His  horizon. 

Bright  is  the  earth,  when  Thou  risest  in  the  horizon, 
When  Thou  shinest  as  Aton  by  day. 

The  darkness  is  banished 

When  Thou  sendest  forth  Thy  rays  ; 

The  two  lands  [of  Egypt]  are  in  daily  festivity, 
Awake  and  standing  upon  their  feet, 

For  Thou  hast  raised  them  up. 

Their  limbs  bathed,  they  take  their  clothing, 

Their  arms  uplifted  in  adoration  to  Thy  dawning. 
Then  in  all  the  world  they  do  their  work. 

All  cattle  rest  upon  the  herbage, 

All  trees  and  plants  flourish  ; 

The  birds  flutter  in  their  marshes, 

Their  wings  uplifted  in  adoration  to  Thee. 

All  the  sheep  dance  upon  their  feet, 

All  winged  things  fly, 

They  live  when  Thou  hast  shone  upon  them. 

The  barques  sail  up-stream  and  down-stream  alike. 
Every  highway  is  open  because  Thou  hast  dawned. 
The  fish  in  the  river  leap  up  before  Thee, 

And  Thy  rays  are  in  the  midst  of  the  great  sea. 

Thou  art  He  who  createst  the  man-child  in  woman, 
Who  makest  seed  in  man, 

Who  giveth  life  to  the  son  in  the  body  of  his  mother, 


132 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


Who  soothest  him  that  he  may  not  weep, 

A  nurse  [even]  in  the  womb. 

Who  giveth  breath  to  animate  every  one  that  He  maketh. 
When  he  cometh  forth  from  the  body  .  .  . 

On  the  day  of  his  birth, 

Thou  openest  his  mouth  in  speech, 

Thou  suppliest  his  necessities. 

When  the  chicken  crieth  in  the  egg-shell, 

Thou  givest  him  breath  therein,  to  preserve  him  alive  ; 
When  Thou  hast  perfected  him 
That  he  may  pierce  the  egg, 

He  cometh  forth  from  the  egg, 

To  chirp  with  all  his  might ; 

He  runneth  about  upon  his  two  feet, 

When  he  hath  come  forth  therefrom. 

How  manifold  are  all  Thy  works  ! 

They  are  hidden  from  before  us, 

O  Thou  sole  God,  whose  powers  no  other  possesseth. 

Thou  didst  create  the  earth  according  ta  Thy  desire. 

While  Thou  wast  alone  : 

Men,  all  cattle  large  and  small, 

All  that  are  upon  the  earth, 

That  go  about  upon  their  feet  ; 

All  that  are  on  high. 

That  fly  with  their  wings. 

The  countries  of  Syria  and  Nubia 
The  land  of  Egypt ; 

Thou  settest  every  man  in  his  place 
Thou  suppliest  their  necessities. 

Every  one  has  his  possessions, 

And  his  days  are  reckoned. 

Their  tongues  are  divers  in  speech, 

Their  forms  likewise  and  their  skins. 

For  Thou,  divider,  hast  divided  the  peoples. 


THE  HYMNS  OF  THE  ATON  WORSHIPPERS 


133 


Thou  makest  the  Nile  in  the  nether  world, 

Thou  bringest  it  at  Thy  desire,  to  preserve  the  people  alive. 
O  Lord  of  them  all,  when  feebleness  is  in  them, 

O  Lord  of  every  house,  who  risest  for  them, 

O  sun  of  day,  the  fear  of  every  distant  land, 

Thou  makest  [also]  their  life. 

Thou  hast  set  a  Nile  in  heaven, 

That  it  may  fall  for  them. 

Making  floods  upon  the  mountains,  like  the  great  sea, 

And  watering  their  fields  among  their  towns. 

How  excellent  are  Thy  designs,  O  Lord  of  eternity  ! 

The  Nile  in  heaven  is  for  the  strangers, 

And  for  the  cattle  of  every  land  that  go  upon  their  feet ; 
But  the  Nile,  it  cometh  from  the  nether  world  for  Egypt. 
Thus  Thy  rays  nourish  every  garden  ; 

When  Thou  risest  they  live,  and  grow  by  Thee. 

Thou  makest  the  seasons,  in  order  to  create  all  Thy  works  ; 
Winter  bringeth  them  coolness, 

And  the  heat  [the  summer  bringeth]. 

Thou  hast  made  the  distant  heaven  in  order  to  rise  therein. 
In  order  to  behold  all  that  Thou  didst  make, 

While  Thou  wast  alone. 

Rising  in  Thy  form  as  Living  Aton, 

Dawning,  shining  afar  off,  and  returning. 

Thou  makest  the  beauty  of  form  through  Thyself  alone. 
Cities,  towns,  and  settlements, 

On  highway  or  on  river, 

All  eyes  see  Thee  before  them, 

For  Thou  art  Aton  [or  Lord]  of  the  day  over  the  earth. 

Thou  art  in  my  heart ; 

There  is  no  other  that  knoweth  Thee, 

Save  Thy  son  Akhnaton. 

Thou  hast  made  him  wise  in  Thy  designs 


134 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


And  in  Thy  might. 

The  world  is  in  Thy  hand, 

Even  as  Thou  hast  made  them. 

When  Thou  hast  risen  they  live  ; 

When  Thou  settest  they  die. 

For  Thou  art  duration,  beyond  mere  limbs  ; 

By  Thee  man  liveth. 

And  their  eyes  look  upon  Thy  beauty 
Until  Thou  settest. 

All  labour  is  laid  aside 
When  Thou  settest  in  the  west. 

When  Thou  risest  they  are  made  to  grow.  .  .  . 
Since  Thou  didst  establish  the  earth. 

Thou  hast  raised  thedr  up  for  Thy  son, 

Who  came  forth  from  Thy  limbs, 

The  King,  living  in  truth,  .  .  . 

Akhnaton,  whose  life  is  long  ; 

[And  for]  the  great  royal  wife,  his  beloved. 
Mistress  of  the  Two  Lands,  .  .  .  Nefertiti, 
Living  and  flourishing  for  ever  and  ever." 


2.  THE  SIMILARITY  OF  AKHNATON’S  HYMN 

TO  PSALM  CIV 


In  reading  this  truly  beautiful  hymn  one 
cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  its  similarity  to 


Psalm  civ.  A  parallel 
clearly  : — 

Akhnaton’s  Hymn. 

The  world  is  in  darkness 
like  the  dead.  Every  lioh 
cometh  forth  from  his  den  ; 
all  serpents  sting.  Darkness 
reigns. 


will  show  this  most 

Psalm  civ. 

Thou  makest  the  darkness 
and  it  is  night,  wherein  all 
the  beasts  of  the  forest  do 
creep  forth.  The  young  lions 
roar  after  their  prey;  they  seek 
their  meat  from  God. 


akhnaton’s  hymn  and  psalm  civ 


135 


When  Thou  risest  in  the 
horizon  .  .  .  the  darkness  is 
banished.  .  .  .  Then  in  all 
the  world  they  do  their  work. 

All  trees  and  plants  flourish, 
.  .  .  the  birds  flutter  in  their 
marshes.  .  .  .  All  sheep  dance 
upon  their  feet. 

The  ships  saii  upstream  and 
down-stream  alike.  .  .  .  The 
fish  in  the  river  leap  up  before 
Thee  ;  and  Thy  rays  are  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  sea. 

How  manifold  are  all  Thy 
works  ! .  .  .  Thou  didst  create 
the  earth  according  to  Thy  de¬ 
sire, — men,  all  cattle,  ...  all 
that  are  upon  the  earth.  .  .  . 

Thou  hast  set  a  Nile  in 
heaven  that  it  may  fall  for 
them,  making  floods  upon  the 
mountains  .  .  .  and  watering 
their  fields.  The  Nile  in 
heaven  is  for  the  service  of 
the  strangers,  and  for  the 
cattle  of  every  land. 

Thou  makest  the  seasons. 
.  .  .  Thou  hast  made  the 
distant  heaven  in  order  to 
rise  therein,  .  .  .  dawning, 
shining  afar  off,  and  returning. 

The  world  is  in  Thy  hand, 
even  as  Thou  hast  made  them. 
When  thou  hast  risen  they 


The  sun  riseth,  they  get 
them  away,  and  lay  them  down 
in  their  dens.  Man  goeth 
forth  unto  his  woik,  and  to 
his  labour  until  the  evening. 

The  trees  of  the  Lord  are 
full  of  sap,  .  .  .  wherein  the 
birds  make  their  nests  .  .  . 
The  high  hills  are  a  refuge  for 
the  wild  goats. 

Yonder  is  the  sea,  great  and 
wide,  wherein  are  .  .  .  both 
small  and  great  beasts.  There 
go  the  ships.  .  .  . 

O  Lord,  how  manifold  are 
Thy  works  !  In  wisdom  hast 
Thou  made  them  all.  The 
earth  is  full  of  Thy  creatures. 

He  watereth  the  hills  from 
above  :  the  earth  is  filled  with 
the  fruit  of  Thy  works.  He 
bringeth  forth  grass  for  the 
cattle  and  green  herb  for  the 
service  of  men. 

He  appointed  the  moon  for 
certain  seasons,  and  the  sun 
knoweth  his  going  down. 

These  wait  all  upon  Thee. . . 
When  Thou  givest  them[food] 
they  gather  it;  and  when  Thou 


136 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


live ;  when  Thou  settest  openest  Thy  hand  they  are 
they  die.  .  .  .  By  Thee  man  filled  with  good.  When  Thou 
liveth.  hidest  Thy  face  they  are 

troubled  :  when  Thou  takesi 
away  their  breath  they  die. 

In  face  of  this  remarkable  similarity  one  can 
hardly  doubt  that  there  is  a  direct  connection 
between  the  two  compositions  ;  and  it  becomes 
necessary  to  ask  whether  both  Akhnaton’s  hymn 
and  this  Hebrew  psalm  were  derived  from  a 
common  Syrian  source,  or  whether  Psalm  civ 
is  derived  from  this  Pharaoh's  original  poem. 
Both  views  are  admissible  ;  but  in  consideration 
of  Akhnaton’s  peculiar  ability  and  originality 
there  seems  considerable  likelihood  that  he  is 
the  author  in  the  first  instance  of  this  gem  of 
the  Psalter. 

When  the  young  Pharaoh  composed  this  hymn 
he  was  probably  neither  much  more  nor  less  than 
twenty-two  or  twenty-three  years  of  age — a 
period  of  life  at  which  many  of  the  world’s 
greatest  poets  have  written  some  of  their  fairest 
poems.  One  sees  that  he  believed  himself  to 
be  the  only  man  to  whom  God  had  revealed  Him¬ 
self  and  the  fact  that  he  never  admits  that  he  was 
in  any  way  taught  to  regard  God  as  he  did,  but 
always  speaks  of  himself,  and  is  spoken  of,  as 
the  originator  and  teacher  of  the  faith,  indicates 
that  the  ideas  expressed  in  the  hymn  were 


Akhnaton 

From  a  Coloured  Relief  found  at  El  Amarna 

(See  page  145) 


-  '■ 


. 


» 


MERYRA  IS  MADE  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  ATON 


137 


entirely  his  own.  The  Aton  religion  was  never 
called  by  any  other  name  than  “  The  Teaching/’ 
a  fact  which  suggests  that  the  King  himself  was 
the  “  teacher  ”  of  the  new  creed. 

3.  MERYRA  IS  MADE  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  ATON 

The  religion  of  the  Aton  had  now  assumed 
shape  and  symmetry,  and  had  been  firmly  estab¬ 
lished  in  the  new  capital  as  the  creed  of  the  court. 
Akhnaton  was  thus  able  to  intrust  its  administra¬ 
tion  and  organisation  there  to  one  of  his  nobles 
who  had  hearkened  to  his  teaching,  and  to  turn 
his  attention  to  other  affairs,  and  more  especially 
to  the  conversion  of  the  rest  of  Egypt.  As  head 
of  the  state  a  thousand  matters  daily  claimed 
his  considera  tion,  and  his  high  principles  perhaps 
led  him  to  stray  further  along  the  by-paths  of 
administration  than  had  been  the  wont  of  the 
Pharaohs  before  him.  His  ill-health  did  not 
permit  him  to  tax  his  brain  with  impunity,  and 
yet  there  was  never  a  king  of  Egypt  before  or 
after  him  whose  mind  was  so  fruitful  of  thoughts 
and  of  schemes.  The  young  king  himself  ex¬ 
pounded  to  his  followers  the  doctrines  which  he 
wished  them  to  embrace,  and  one  may  suppose 
that  he  sat  for  many  an  hour  in  the  halls  of 
his  palace,  or  under  the  trees  in  the  gardens 
beside  the  Nile,  earnestly  telling  of  the  beauties 
of  the  Aton  to  officials  and  nobles. 


138 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


No  one  had  accepted  the  king’s  teachings  with 
greater  readiness  than  a  certain  Meryra,  who 
seems  to  have  early  associated  himself  with  the 
movement ;  and  it  was  to  him  that  Akhnaton 
now  handed  over  the  office  of  “  High  Priest  of 
the  A  ton  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton,” 
in  order  to  free  himself  for  the  great  task  of 
administering  his  kingdom  and  converting  it  to 
his  way  of  thinking.  Unfortunately  we  know 
very  little  of  the  career  of  Meryra,  but  on  the 
walls  of  his  tomb  in  the  hills  behind  the  capital 
there  are  a  few  reliefs  which  may  here  be 
described  as  illustrating  events  in  his  life  and 
in  the  life  of  Akhnaton. 

One  of  these  scenes  shows  us  the  investiture 
of  Meryra  as  High  Priest.  The  king  is  seen 
with  his  wife  and  one  of  his  daughters  standing 
at  a  window  of  the  gaily  decorated  loggia  of  the 
palace.  The  sill  of  the  window  is  massed  with 
bright-coloured  cushions,  and  over  these  the 
royal  personages  lean  forward  to  address  Meryra 
and  the  company  assembled  in  the  pillared 
gallery  outside.  The  outer  surface  of  the  loggia 
wall  is  brightly  ornamented  either  with  real  or 
painted  garlands  of  lotus-flowers,  and  with  the 
many-coloured  patterns  usual  upon  such  buildings 
in  ancient  Egypt.  Ribbons,  fluttering  in  the 
breeze,  hang  from  the  delicate  lotus-pillars  which 
support  the  roof,  and  vie  in  brilliancy  with  the 


MERYRA  IS  MADE  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  ATON  139 

red  and  blue  ostrich-plume  fans  and  standards 
carried  by  the  officials. 

Leaning  from  the  window,  with  arm  out¬ 
stretched,  Akhnaton  bids  Meryra  rise  from  his 
knees,  on  to  which  he  had  cast  himself  on  reach¬ 
ing  the  royal  presence.  Then  solemnly  the  king 
addresses  his  favoured  disciple  in  the  following 
words  : — “  Behold,  I  make  thee  High  Priest  of 
the  Aton  for  me  in  the  Temple  of  the  Aton  in 
the  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton.  I  do  this  for 
love  of  thee,  and  I  say  unto  thee  :  O  my  servant 
who  hearkenest  to  the  teaching,  my  heart  is 
satisfied  with  everything  which  thou  hast  done. 
I  give  thee  this  office,  and  I  say  unto  thee :  thou 
shalt  eat  the  food  of  Pharaoh,  thy  lord,  in  the 
Temple  of  Aton.” 

Immediately  the  asssembled  company  crowd 
round  Meryra  and  lift  him  shoulder-high,  while 
the  new  High  Priest  cries,  “  Abundant  are  the 
rewards  which  the  Aton  knows  to  give  when  his 
heart  is  pleased.”  The  king  then  presents 
Meryra  with  the  insignia  of  his  office,  and  with 
various  costly  gifts,  which  are  taken  charge  of 
by  the  servants  and  attendants  who  stand  out¬ 
side  the  gallery.  Behind  these  attendants,  at 
the  outskirts  of  the  scene,  one  observes  the 
chariot  which  is  to  convey  the  High  Priest  back 
to  his  villa ;  fan-bearers  who  shall  run  before 
and  behind  him  ;  women  of  the  household  who 


140 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


shall  beat  upon  tambourines  at  the  head  of  the 
procession,  and  who  already  dance  with  excite¬ 
ment  as  they  see  Meryra  hoisted  on  to  his 
friend’s  shoulder ;  and  still  other  women  who 
shall  make  the  roadway  rich  with  flowers. 

This  is  no  solemn  and  occult  initiation  of  an 
ascetic  into  the  mystery  of  the  new  religion, 
but  rather  the  elevation  of  a  good  fellow  to  a 
popular  post  of  honour.  There  was  no  mystery 
in  the  faith  of  the  At  on.  Frankness,  openness, 
and  sincerity  were  the  dominant  themes  of 
Akhnaton’s  teaching— a  worship  of  God  in  the 
blessed  light  of  the  day,  the  singing  of  merry 
psalms  in  the  open  courts  of  the  temple ;  and 
the  chosen  High  Priest  was  more  likely  to  have 
been  a  deep-thinking,  clean-lived,  honest-hearted, 
Goa-fearing,  family  man,  than  an  ascetic  who 
had  abandoned  the  pomps  and  the  vanities  of 
this  world.  The  Pharaoh,  while  encouraging  the 
Simple  Life,  did  not  preach  the  mortification  of 
the  flesh,  but  only  the  control  of  the  body.  The 
comforts  of  life,  the  brilliancy  of  decoration,  the 
charms  of  music,  the  beauties  of  painting  and 
sculpture,  the  pleasure  of  good  company,  the 
tonic  of  a  bowl  of  wine,  were  all  as  acceptable 
to  him,  in  moderation,  as  to  the  Preacher  in 
Ecclesiastes. 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY  VISIT  THE  TEMPLE 


141 


4.  THE  ROYAL  FAMILY  VISIT  THE  TEMPLE 

When  Meryra  had  been  installed,  the  king  and 
royal  family  made  a  formal  visit  to  the  temple 
at  the  time  of  sunset,  and  this  is  likewise  repre¬ 
sented  in  the  High  Priest’s  tomb.  For  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  Egypt  one  is  permitted 
to  see  the  Pharaoh  as  he  drove  through  the  streets 
of  the  capital  in  his  chariot.  No  king  before 
Akhnaton  had  allowed  an  artist  to  represent 
him  in  aught  but  celestial  poses  ;  but  out  of 
his  love  for  truth  and  reality  Akhnaton  had 
dispensed  with  this  convention,  and  encouraged 
the  regarding  of  himself  as  a  mortal  man.  On 
this  occasion  we  see  him  standing  in  his  gorgeously 
decorated  chariot,  reins  and  whip  in  hand,  him¬ 
self  driving  the  two  spirited  horses,  the  coloured 
ostrich  plumes  on  whose  heads  nod  and  toss  as 
the  superb  animals  prance  along.  The  queen, 
also  driving  her  own  chariot,  follows  close  behind  ; 
and  after  her  again  come  the  princesses,  heading 
a  noble  group  of  chariots  belonging  to  the  court 
officials  and  ladies-in-waiting,  these  being  driven 
by  charioteers.  The  shining  harness,  the  dancing 
red  and  blue  plumes  of  the  horses,  the  many- 
coloured  robes,  the  feathered  standards  of  the 
nobles,  the  fluttering  ribbons,  all  go  to  make 
the  cavalcade  a  sight  to  bring  the  townspeople 
running  from  their  houses.  A  guard  of  soldiers. 


142 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


armed  with  spears,  shields,  battle-axes,  bows, 
and  clubs,  races  along  on  foot  in  front  of  the 
royal  party  to  clear  the  road.  Here,  besides 
Egyptians,  are  bearded  Asiatics  from  the  king’s 
Syrian  dominions,  befeathered  negroes  from  the 
Mazoi  tribes  of  Nubia,  and  Libyans  from  the 
west,  wearing  the  plaited  side-lock  of  hair  hang¬ 
ing  from  their  heads. 

The  party  is  seen  to  be  nearing  the  temple, 
and  Meryra  stands  before  the  gateway  ready  to 
greet  his  lord.  Four  men  kneel  near  him  hold¬ 
ing  aloft  the  coloured  ostrich-plume  fans,  which 
will  be  wafted  to  and  fro  above  the  king’s  head 
when  he  has  alighted  from  his  chariot ;  and 
others  kneel,  lifting  their  hands  in  reverent 
salutation.  Great  bulls,  fattened  like  the  prize 
cattle  of  modern  times,  are  led  forth,  garlands 
of  flowers  thrown  around  their  huge  necks,  and 
bouquets  of  flowers  fastened  between  their  horns. 
These  are  attended  by  grooms,  also  bearing 
bunches  of  flowers.  Two  groups  of  female  musi¬ 
cians,  clad  in  flowing  robes,  wave  their  arms 
and  beat  upon  tambourines. 

The  temple,  which  will  be  described  later,  is 
this  day  garlanded  with  flowers,  and  every  altar 
is  heaped  high  with  offerings.  Now  the  king 
has  entered  the  building,  and  a  further  scene 
shows  the  royal  family  worshipping  at  the  high 
altar,  which  is  piled  up  with  offerings  of  joints 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY  VISIT  THE  TEMPLE 


143 


of  meat,  geese;  vegetables,  fruit,  and  flowers, 
surmounted  by  bronze  bowls  filled  with  burning 
oil.  Akhnaton  and  Nefertiti  stand  before  the 
altar,  each  with  the  right  arm  raised  in  the  act 
of  sprinkling  the  fragrant  gums  of  Araby  upon 
the  flames.  The  upper  part  of  the  king’s  body 
is  bare,  but  from  his  waist  depends  a  graceful 
skirt  of  fine  linen,  ornamented  with  sash-like 
ribbons  of  a  red  material,  which  flutter  about 
his  bare  legs.  The  queen’s  robe  covers  the  whole 
of  her  body,  but  is  so  transparent  that  one  can 
see  her  form  with  almost  the  distinctness  of 
nudity.  A  red  sash  is  bound  round  her  waist, 
and  the  two  ends  fall  almost  to  the  ground. 
Neither  of  the  two  wears  any  jewels  ;  and  the 
simplicity  of  the  soft,  flowing  robes,  with  their 
bright-red  sashes,  is  extremely  marked.  Two 
little  princesses  stand  behind  the  king  and  queen, 
each  shaking  from  a  systrum  a  note  of  praise 
to  God.  Meryra,  accompanied  by  an  assistant, 
stands  bowing  before  the  king,  and  near  by 
another  priest  bums  some  sweet-smelling  incense. 
Not  far  away  there  sits  a  group  of  eight  blind 
musicians — fat  elderly  men,  who  clap  their 
hands  and  sing  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  seven¬ 
stringed  harp,  giving  praise  to  the  sunlight 
which  they  cannot  see,  but  yet  can  feel  as  “  the 
heat  which  is  in  Aton  ”  penetrates  into  their 
bones. 


144 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


In  still  another  series  of  reliefs  we  are  shown 
a  scene  representing  the  reward  of  Meryra  by 
Akhnaton  on  some  occasion  when  he  had  been 
particularly  successful  in  collecting  the  yearly 
dues  of  the  temple  from  the  estates  on  the  op¬ 
posite  bank  of  the  river.  The  ceremony  took 


AKHNATON  AND  NEFERTITI  WITH  THEIR  THREE  DAUGHTERS, 
throwing  golden  collars  to  a  faithful  noble  of  the  court. 


place  in  the  granary  buildings  at  the  edge  of 
the  water.  One  sees  a  group  of  boats  moored 
at  the  quay,  and  on  the  shore  are  several  cattle- 
pens  filled  with  lowing  cattle.  The  granaries 
are  stored  with  all  manner  of  good  things,  and 
Meryra  stands  triumphant  in  front  of  them  as 
the  king  addresses  him. 


AKHNATON  IN  HIS  PALACE 


145 


“  Let  the  Superintendent  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  Jewels  take  Meryra,”  says  Akhnaton,  “and 
hang  gold  on  his  neck  at  the  front,  and  gold  on 
his  feet,  because  of  his  obedience  to  the  teaching 
of  Pharaoh  ”  ;  and  immediately  the  attendants 
literally  heap  the  gold  collars  and  necklaces  one 
above  the  other  upon  the  High  Priest’s  neck. 
Scribes  write  down  a  rapid  summary  of  the 
events ;  the  attendants  and  fan-bearers  bow 
low  ;  and  Meryra  is  conducted  back  to  his  villa 
with  music  and  with  dancing,  while  Akhnaton 
returns  to  his  palace,  and,  no  doubt,  sinks 
exhausted  on  to  his  cushions. 

5.  AKHNATON  IN  HIS  PALACE 

The  reliefs  and  paintings  upon  the  tombs  often 
show  the  Pharaoh  reclining  thus,  in  a  languid 
manner,  as  though  the  duties  of  his  high  calling 
had  sapped  all  the  strength  from  him.  Never 
before  had  a  Pharaoh  been  represented  to  his 
subjects  in  such  human  attitudes.  The  privacy 
of  the  palace  is  penetrated  in  these  scenes,  and 
we  see  the  king,  who  loved  to  teach  his  followers 
the  beauty  of  family  life,  in  the  midst  of  his 
own  family.  One  or  two  of  these  representations 
must  here  be  described.  In  one  instance  the 
royal  family  is  shown  inside  a  beautiful  pavilion, 
the  roof  of  which  is  supported  by  wooden  pillars 
painted  with  many  colours  and  having  capitals 

M 


146 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


carved  in  high  relief  to  represent  wild  geese 
suspended  by  their  legs,  and  above  them  bunches 
of  flowers.  The  pillars  are  hung  with  garlands 
of  flowers,  and  from  the  ceiling  there  droop 
festoons  of  flowers  and  trailing  branches  of  vines. 
The  roof  of  the  pavilion  on  the  outside  is  edged 
by  an  endless  line  of  gleaming  cobras,  probably 
wrought  in  bronze. 

Inside  this  fair  arbor  stand  a  group  of  naked 
girls  playing  upon  the  harp,  the  lute,  and  the 
lyre,  and,  no  doubt,  singing  to  that  accom¬ 
paniment  the  artless  love-songs  of  the  period. 
Servants  are  shown  attending  to  the  jars  of 
wine  which  stand  at  the  side  of  the  enclosure. 
The  king  is  seen  leaning  back  upon  the  cushions 
of  an  arm-chair,  as  though  tired  out  and  sick 
at  heart.  In  the  fingers  of  his  left  hand  he 
idly  dandles  a  few  flowers,  while  with  his  right 
hand  he  languidly  holds  out  a  delicate  bowl  in 
order  that  the  wine  in  it  may  be  replenished. 
This  is  done  by  the  queen,  who  is  standing  before 
him,  all  solicitous  for  his  comfort.  She  pours 
the  wine  from  a  vessel,  causing  it  to  pass  through 
a  strainer  before  flowing  into  the  bowl.  Three 
little  princesses  stand  near  by  :  one  of  them 
laden  with  bouquets  of  flowers,  another  holding 
out  some  sweetmeat  upon  a  dish,  and  a  third 
talking  to  her  father. 

In  another  scene  the  king  and  queen  are  both 


HISTORICAL  EVENTS  OF  THIS  PERIOD 


147 


shown  seated  upon  comfortable  chairs,  while 
a  servant  waits  upon  them.  The  king  is  eating 
a  roasted  pigeon,  holding  it  in  his  fingers  ;  and 
Nefertiti  is  represented  drinking  from  a  prettily 
shaped  cup.  The  light,  transparent  robes  which 
they  wear  indicate  that  this  is  the  midday  meal ; 
but  unfortunately  the  painting  is  so  much 
damaged  that  nothing  but  the  royal  figures 
remains. 

6.  HISTORICAL  EVENTS  OF  THIS  PERIOD  OF 
‘  AKHNATON’S  REIGN 

There  is  very  little  historical  information  to 
be  procured  for  these  years  of  the  king’s  reign. 
When  he  had  been  about  ten  or  eleven  years 
upon  the  throne,  and  was  some  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  his  fourth  daughter,  Neferneferuaton, 
was  born.  The  queen  had  presented  no  son  to 
Akhnaton  to  succeed  him,  but  he  does  not  seem 
in  this  emergency  to  have  cared  to  turn  to  any 
secondary  wives  ;  and,  as  far  as  we  can  tell,  he 
remained  all  his  life  a  monogamist,  although 
this  was  in  direct  opposition  to  all  traditional 
custom.  Steadily  during  these  years  the  king’s 
health  seems  to  have  grown  more  precarious, 
for  almost  daily  he  must  have  overtaxed  his 
strength.  His  brain  was  so  active  that  he  could 
not  submit  to  be  idle  ;  and  even  when  he  re¬ 
clined  amidst  the  flowers  in  his  garden,  his  whole 


148 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


soul  was  straining  upwards  in  the  attempt  to 
pierce  the  barrier  which  lay  between  him  and 
the  God  who  had  caused  those  flowers  to  bloom. 
The  maturity  of  his  creed  at  this  period  leads 
one  to  suppose  that  he  had  given  to  it  his  very 
life’s  force ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  that 
at  the  same  time  his  attention  was  occupied  by 
the  administration  of  a  kingdom  which  he  had 
twisted  out  of  all  semblance  to  its  former  shape, 
the  wonder  is  that  his  brain  was  at  all  able  to 
stand  the  incessant  strain.  Rare  indeed  must 
have  been  those  idle  moments  which  the  artists 
of  the  City  of  the  Horizon  attempted  to  represent. 

In  the  twelfth  year  of  his  reign,  the  tribute 
of  the  vassal  kingdoms  reached  such  a  high 
value  that  a  particular  record  was  made  of  it, 
and  scenes  showing  its  reception  were  sculptured 
in  the  tombs  of  Huy  a  and  Meryra  II.1  An 
inscription  beside  the  scene  in  the  tomb  of  Huya 
reads  thus : — 

Year  twelve,  the  second  month  of  winter,  the 
eighth  day.  .  .  .  The  King  .  .  .  and  the  Queen 
.  .  .  living  for  ever  and  ever,  made  a  public 

*  In  the  tomb  of  Huya  the  scene  is  dated  in  the  twelfth  year,  as 
here  recorded,  and  there  are  four  daughters  shown,  which  is  the 
number  one  is  led  by  other  evidence  to  suppose  were  then  alive. 
The  scene  in  the  tomb  of  Meryra  II  has  precisely  the  same  date, 
but  six  daughters  are  shown,  and  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  that 
number  is  not  to  be  looked  for  previous  to  the  fifteenth  year  of  the 
reign,  the  first  daughter  being  born  in  about  the  fifth  year,  the 
second  in  the  seventh,  the  third  in  the  ninth,  the  fourth  in  the 
eleventh,  the  fifth  in  the  thirteenth,  and  the  sixth  in  the  fifteenth 


HISTORICAL  EVENTS  OF  THIS  PERIOD 


149 


appearance  on  the  great  palanquin  of  gold,  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  tribute  of  Syria  and  Ethiopia,  and  of  the 
west  and  the  east.  All  the  countries  were  collected 
at  one  time,  and  also  the  islands  in  the  midst  of  the 
sea  ;  bringing  offerings  to  the  King  when  he  was  on 
the  great  throne  of  the  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton, 
in  order  to  receive  the  imposts  of  every  land  and 
granting  them  [in  return]  the  breath  of  life. 

The  king  and  queen  are  shown  seated  in  the 
state  palanquin  side  by  side ;  and  although 
Akhnaton  holds  the  insignia  of  royalty.,  and  is 
evidently  very  much  upon  his  dignity,  the 
queen’s  arm  has  found  its  way  around  his  waist, 
and  there  lovingly  rests  for  all  the  world  to  see. 
The  palanquin,  probably  made  of  wood  entirely 
covered  with  gold  foil,  is  a  very  imposing  struc¬ 
ture  :  a  large  double  throne,  borne  aloft  by 
stout  poles  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  court 
officials.  The  arm-rests  are  carved  in  the  form 
of  sphinxes,  which  rise  above  a  glistening  hedge 
of  cobras,  and  the  throne  is  flanked  on  either 
side  by  the  figure  of  a  lion  carved  in  the  round. 
A  priest  walks  in  front  of  the  palanquin  sending 
up  a  cloud  of  incense  from  a  censer,  and 

year,  in  all  probability.  Thus  the  scene  in  Meryra  II  may  perhaps 
represent  no  particular  reception  of  the  tribute  of  any  one  year,  but 
the  artist  may  have  had  in  mind  the  great  tribute  of  the  twelfth 
year  while  representing  the  occurrence  in  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth 
year,  at  which  date  his  work  was  taking  place.  Or  again  the  date  in 
this  latter  tomb  may  be  a  misreading  or  miswriting.  The  scene  de¬ 
scribed  above  is  that  represented  in  the  tomb  of  Meryra,  as  it  is 
more  elaborate  than  the  other  ;  but  the  inscription  is  that  found  in 
the  tomb  of  Huya. 


150 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


professional  mummers  dance  and  skip  in  the  road¬ 
way  in  advance  of  the  procession.  Behind  the 
royal  couple  walk  the  princesses,  attended  by 
their  nurses  and  ladies ;  and  on  all  sides  are  ar¬ 
rayed  courtiers,  officers,  soldiers,  and  servants. 

Soon  the  ground  marked  out  for  the  ceremony 
is  reached,  and  the  king  and  queen  betake  them 
selves  to  a  gorgeous  little  pavilion  which  has  been 
erected  for  them,  and  here  they  sit  together 
upon  a  double  throne,  their  feet  supported  upon 
hassocks.  The  queen  sits  upon  Akhnaton’s  left, 
and  in  the  picture  her  figure  is  hidden  by  that 
of  her  husband ;  but  as  her  right  arm  is  seen 
to  encircle  his  waist,  and  her  left  hand  to  hold 
his  left  hand,  one  may  suppose  that  she  is  re¬ 
clining  against  him,  with  her  royal  head  upon 
his  shoulder.  Nefertiti  was  the  mother  of  a 
family  of  children,  but  was  not  more  than  about 
twenty1  years  of  age  ;  and  one  may  presume  that 
this  scene  of  conjugal  affection  was  not  without 
its  charm.  The  little  princesses  cluster  round 
the  throne,  one  of  them  holding  a  young  gazelle 
in  her  arms,  while  another  stroked  its  head. 

In  front  of  this  pavilion  the  deputation  from 
the  vassal  kingdoms  pass  by  ;  and  in  order  that 
the  king  may  not  be  wearied  by  their  cere¬ 
monious  homage,  a  group  of  professional  wrestlers, 

*  Her  first  child,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  probably  born  when 
she  was  about  thirteen. 


HISTORICAL  EVENTS  OF  THIS  PERIOD 


151 


boxers,  and  fencers  is  provided  for  his  diversion  ; 
while  near  them  some  buffoons  and  mummers 
dance  and  tumble  to  the  accompaniment  of 
castanets  and  hand-clapping.  The  tribute  of 
Syria  is  brought  by  long-robed  Asiatics,  who 
cast  themselves  upon  their  knees  before  the 
throne  with  hands  uplifted  in  salutation.  Splen¬ 
did  Syrian  horses  are  led  past,  and  behind 
them  chariots  are  wheeled  or  carried  along. 
Then  come  groups  of  slaves,  handcuffed,  but  not 
cruelly  bound  nor  maltreated,  as  was  the  custom 
under  other  Pharaohs.  Bows,  spears,  shields, 
daggers,  elephant-tusks,  and  other  objects,  are 
carried  past  and  deposited  upon  the  ground 
near  the  pavilion ;  while  beautiful  vases  of 
precious  metal  or  costly  stone  are  held  aloft  for 
the  king  to  admire.  Wild  animals  are  led  across 
the  ground  by  their  keepers,  and  amongst  these 
a  tame  mountain  lion  must  have  caused  some¬ 
thing  of  a  sensation.  Several  nude  girls,  selected 
probably  for  their  beauty,  walk  past ;  and  one 
may  suppose  that  they  will  find  subsequent 
employment  amongst  the  handmaidens  in  the 
palace. 

From  the  “  islands  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  ” 
come  beautiful  vases,  some  ornamented  with 
figures  in  the  round.  From  Libya  ostrich  eggs 
and  ostrich  feathers  are  brought.  The  tribute 
of  Nubia  and  the  Sudan  is  carried  past  by 


152 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


befeathered  negroes,  and  consists  mainly  of  bars 
and  rings  of  gold  and  bags  of  gold-dust,  pro¬ 
cured  from  the  mines  in  the  Eastern  Desert. 
Shields,  weapons,  tusks,  and  skins  are  also  to 
be  seen,  and  cattle  and  antelopes  are  led  before 
the  throne.  As  the  Asiatics  had  startled  the 
assembly  by  bringing  with  them  a  lion,  so  the 
negroes  cause  a  stir  by  leading  forward  a  panther 
of  large  size.  Finally,  male  and  female  slaves, 
the  latter  carrying  their  babies  in  baskets  upon 
their  backs,  are  marched  past  the  pavilion ; 
but  here  again  these  slaves  are  not  maltreated. 
It  is  particularly  noticeable  that  the  groups  of 
miserable  captives  which  one  sees  in  all  such 
scenes  of  other  periods,  with  their  arms  bound 
in  agonising  positions  and  their  knees  giving 
way  under  them,  are  entirely  absent  from  the 
representations  of  Akhnaton’s  ceremonies.1 
Human  suffering  was  a  thing  hateful  to  the 
young  Pharaoh  who  knew  so  well  the  meaning 
of  physical  distress ;  and  the  tortures  of  the 
prisoners,  or  the  beheading  of  some  rebel,  such 
as  would  have  been  a  feature  of  an  occasion  of 
this  kind  under  Amenophis  II,  or  even,  perhaps, 
under  Amenophis  III,  would  have  been  as  re¬ 
volting  to  Akhnaton  as  it  would  be  to  us. 

*  The  conventional  design  of  captive  figures  of  subject  nations 
painted  around  the  steps  of  the  throne,  is,  however,  to  be  seen  in  one 
of  the  El  Amaxna  tombs  but  this  is  not  supposed  to  represent 
actuality. 


QUEEN  TIY  VISITS  THE  CITY  OF  THE  HORIZON  153 


7.  QUEEN  TIY  VISITS  THE  CITY  OF  THE 

HORIZON 

Akhnaton  had  left  Thebes,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  about  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  ;  but  his 
mother,  Queen  Tiy,  seems  to  have  been  unwilling 
to  accompany  him,  and  to  have  decided  to  re¬ 
main  in  her  palace  at  the  foot  of  the  Theban 
hills.  It  is  probable  that  she  had  not  encouraged 
her  son  to  create  the  new  capital,  and  the  removal 
of  the  court  from  Thebes  must  have  been  some¬ 
thing  of  a  grief  to  her,  though  no  doubt  she 
recognised  the  necessity  of  the  step.  In  spite 
of  advancing  years  she  must  have  sorely  missed 
the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  the  splendid 
court  over  which  she  had  once  presided.  Up 
to  the  fourth  year  of  her  son’s  reign,  that  is  to 
say,  until  he  had  found  his  feet  after  coming  of 
age  at  sixteen,  she  had  been  dominant,  and  the 
whole  known  world  had  bowed  the  knee  to  her. 
The  luxuries  of  the  many  kingdoms  over  which 
she  held  sway  had  been  hers  to  enjoy  ;  but  now, 
with  the  king  and  the  nobles  gone  to  the  City 
of  the  Horizon,  and  every  penny  which  could 
be  collected  gone  with  them,  the  old  queen  must 
have  been  obliged  to  live  a  quiet,  retired  life 
in  a  palace  which  was  probably  falling  into  rapid 
ruin.  Her  little  daughter,  Baketaton,  appears 
to  have  lived  with  her ;  and  it  may  be  that  some 


154 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


of  her  other  daughters  were  still  with  her,  though 
of  them  we  hear  nothing,  and  it  is  more  probable 
that  they  had  already  died.  It  seems  likely 
that  she  paid  occasional  state  visits  to  her  son, 
and  permanent  accommodation  was  provided 
for  her  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon  should  she  at 
any  time  desire  to  stay  there.  Her  major-domo, 
an  elderly  man  named  Huya,  appears  to  have 
lived  for  part  of  the  year  at  the  new  capital, 
where  a  tomb  was  made  for  him  ;  and  it  is  from 
the  reliefs  on  the  walls  of  this  tomb  that  we 
obtain  the  knowledge  of  one  of  these  state  visits 
made  by  the  old  queen  to  Akhnaton.  There 
is  no  evidence  to  show  in  what  year  the  visit 
which  forms  the  subject  of  the  representations 
was  made  ;  but  as  the  twelfth  year  of  Akhnaton' s 
reign  is  mentioned  in  this  tomb,  it  is  probable 
that  the  visit  took  place  somewhere  about  that 
time. 

The  queen  must  now  have  been  between  fifty 
and  sixty  years  of  age,1  and  her  daughter 
Baketaton,  born  just  before  the  death  of  her 
husband,  was  probably  not  much  more  than 
twelve  years  old.  Akhnaton  received  his  mother 

1  It  is  probable,  as  has  been  stated  on  p.  95,  that  she  was  married 
to  Amenophis  III  in  about  her  tenth  year,  and  was  thus  about 
forty-six  when  he  died.  She  could  not  have  been  much  more, 
for  her  daughter  Baketaton  must  have  been  born  but  a  year  or  so 
before  her  husband’s  death,  and  it  is  improbable  that  she  would 
bear  children  after  forty- five,  if  as  late  as  that. 


QUEEN  TIY  VISITS  THE  CITY  OF  THE  HORIZON  155 

and  sister  with  apparent  joy  and  festivity,  and 
the  major-domo,  Huya,  was  called  upon  to 
organise  many  a  fete  in  their  honour.  Some  of 
them  are  shown  in  the  reliefs,  where  even  the 
conventionalities  of  the  artist  have  not  been 
able  to  hide  from  us  the  luxury  of  the  scene. 
One  sees  Akhnaton,  his  wife  Nefertiti,  his  mother 
Tiy,  his  sister  Baketaton,  and  his  two  daughters 
Merytaton  and  Ankhsenpaaton,  seated  together 
on  comfortable  cushioned  chairs,  their  feet  rest¬ 
ing  on  elaborate  footstools.  Akhnaton  is  clad 
in  a  skirt  of  clinging  linen,  but  the  upper  part 
of  his  body  seems  to  have  been  bare.  On  his 
forehead  there  gleams  a  small  golden  serpent, 
and  on  his  feet  there  are  elaborate  sandals  ;  but 
with  customary  simplicity  he  wears  no  jewellery. 
Queen  Nefertiti  wears  a  flowing  robe  of  fine 
linen,  and  on  her  forehead  also  there  is  the 
royal  serpent.  Queen  Tiy  wears  the  elaborate 
wig  v/hich  was  in  vogue  during  the  days  of  the 
old  regime,  and  upon  it  there  rests  an  ornamental 
crown  consisting  of  a  disk,  two  horns,  two  tall 
plumes,  and  two  small  serpents,  probably  all 
wrought  in  gold.  A  graceful  robe  of  some 
almost  transparent  material  falls  lightly  over 
her  figure.  The  little  girls  appear  to  be  naked. 

Around  this  happy  family  group  there  stand 
graceful  tables  upon  which  food  of  all  kinds  is 
heaped.  Here  are  joints  of  meat,  dishes  of 


156 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


confectionery,  vegetables,  fruit,1  bread,  cakes  of 
various  kinds,  and  so  on.  The  tables  are  massed 
with  lotus-flowers,  according  to  the  charming 
custom  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  of  all  periods. 
Beside  the  tables  stand  jars  of  wine  and  other 
drinkables,  festooned  with  ribbons.  At  the 
moment  selected  by  the  artist  for  reproduction, 
Akhnaton  is  seen  placing  his  teeth  in  the  neatly 
trimmed  meat  adhering  to  a  large  bone  which 
he  holds  in  his  hand.  To  this  day  it  is  the  cus¬ 
tom  in  Egypt  thus  to  eat  with  the  hands. 
Nefertiti  has  a  small  roast  duck  in  her  hands  at 
which  she  daintily  nibbles.  Tiy’s  morsel  cannot 
now  be  seen,  but  as  she  places  it  to  her  mouth 
with  one  hand  she  presents  a  portion  to  her 
daughter,  Baketaton,  with  the  other.  The  two 
little  princesses  feed  by  Nefertiti’ s  side,  and 

appear  to  be  sharing  the  meal.  Meanwhile  Huya 
hurries  to  and  fro  superintending  the  banquet, 
carefully  tasting  each  dish  before  it  is  presented 
to  the  royal  party.  Two  string  bands  play 
alternately,  the  one  Egyptian  and  the  other 

apparently  Syrian.  The  former  consists  of  four 
female  performers,  the  first  playing  on  a  harp, 
the  second  and  third  on  lutes,  and  the  fourth 

on  a  lyre.  The  main  instrument  in  the  foreign 

1  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  there  are  pomegranates  amongst  the 
fruit,  which  indicates  that  the  visit  was  made  during  the  summer, 
as  do  the  light  costumes  also. 


QUEEN  TIY  VISITS  THE  CITY  OF  THE  HORIZON  157 

band  is  a  large  standing  lyre,  about  six  feet  in 
height,  having  eight  strings,  and  being  played 
with  both  hands.  Courtiers  clad  in  elaborate 
dresses,  and  holding  ostrich-plume  standards, 
are  grouped  around  the  hall  in  which  the  banquet 
takes  place. 

Another  set  of  reliefs  in  the  tomb  of  Huya 
shows  us  an  evening  entertainment  in  honour  of 
Queen  Tiy.  Again  the  same  members  of  the 
royal  family  are  represented,  but  against  the 
cool  night  air  more  clothes  are  worn  by  each 
person,  and  the  upper  part  of  the  king’s  body 
is  now  seen  to  be  covered  by  a  mantle  of  soft 
linen.  The  king,  queen,  and  queen-dowager  are 
all  shown  drinking  from  delicate  bowls,  pro!  ably 
made  of  gold.  This  being  an  evening  festival, 
little  solid  food  appears  to  have  been  eaten, 
but  there  are  three  flower-decked  tables  piled 
high  with  fruit.  From  these  the  little  princesses, 
now  wearing  light  garments,  help  themselves 
liberally  ;  and  the  small  Ankhsenpaaton  stands 
upon  the  footstool  of  her  mother’s  chair,  holding 
on  to  her  skirts  with  one  hand,  while  with  the 
other  she  crams  a  plum  or  some  similar  fruit 
into  her  mouth.  Two  string  bands  make  music 
as  before,  and  again  the  groups  of  courtiers 
stand  about  the  hall ;  while  Huya  hastens  to 
and  fro  directing  the  waiters,  who,  with  napkins 
thrown  over  their  arms,  replenish  the  drinking- 


158 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


bowls  from  the  wine-jars.  The  hall  is  lit  by 
several  flaming  lamps  set  upon  tall  stands,  near 
each  of  which  these  jars  have  been  placed. 

8.  TIY  VISITS  HER  TEMPLE 

One  more  scene  from  this  state  visit  is  shown. 
Here  we  observe  Akhnaton  leading  his  mother 
affectionately  by  the  hand  to  a  temple  which 
had  been  built  in  her  honour,  as  her  private 
place  of  worship,  and  which  was  called  the 
“  Shade  of  the  Sun.”  This  temple  appears  to 
have  been  a  building  of  great  beauty  and  con¬ 
siderable  size.  One  passed  through  two  great 
swinging  doors  hxed  between  the  usual  two 
pylons,  and  so  entered  the  main  court,  which 
stood  open  to  the  sunlight.  A  pillared  gallery 
passed  along  either  side  of  this  court,  and  be¬ 
tween  each  of  the  columns  there  stood  statues 
of  Akhnaton,  Amenophis  III,  and  Queen  Tiy. 
In  the  middle  of  the  court  rose  the  altar,  to 
which  one  mounted  by  a  flight  of  low  steps. 
At  the  far  end  of  the  court  another  set  of  pylons 
and  swinging  doors  led  into  the  inner  chambers. 
Passing  through  these  doors  one  entered  a  small 
gallery,  on  either  side  of  which  there  were  again 
statues  of  the  Pharaoh  and  his  mother.  Beyond 
stood  the  sanctuary,  closed  by  swinging  doors  ; 
and  inside  this  was  the  second  altar,  flanked  by 
statues  of  the  king  and  queen-dowager.  To 


TIY  VISITS  HER  TEMPLE 


159 


right  and  left  of  the  sanctuary  there  were  small 
chapels  ;  and  a  passage  led  round  behind  the 
sanctuary  to  the  usual  shrines,  where  more  royal 
statues  were  to  be  seen. 

The  building  seems  to  have  been  brilliant  with 
colours ;  and  on  this  particular  occasion  the 
altars  were  heaped  up  with  offerings.  Great  jars 
of  wine,  decked  with  garlands  of  flowers  and 
ribbons,  stood  in  the  shadow  of  the  colonnades  ; 
and  meat,  bread,  fruit,  and  vegetables  were  piled 
on  delicate  stands,  ornamented  with  flowers. 

Akhnaton  and  Tiy  were  accompanied  by  the 
little  Princess  Baketaton,  Akhnaton’ s  sister,  and 
her  two  ladies-in-waiting.  Before  them  walked 
the  queen’s  major-domo,  Huy  a,  accompanied  by 
a  foreign  official  wearing  what  appears  to  be 
Cretan  costume.1  Behind  them  walked  a  noble 
group  of  courtiers  bearing  ostrich-plume  fans 
and  standards  ;  and  outside  the  temple  precincts 
waited  a  crowd  of  policemen,  servants,  charioteers 
and  grooms  in  charge  of  the  royal  chariots,  fan- 
bearers,  porters,  and  temple  attendants.  These 
people  shout  and  cheer  loyally  as  the  royal  party 

_  i 

arrives.  “  The  ruler  of  the  Aton  !  ”  they  cry. 
“  He  shall  exist  for  ever  and  ever  !  ”  “  She  who 
rises  in  beauty  !  ”  “To  him  on  whom  the  Aton 
rises  !  ”  “  She  who  is  patron  of  this  temple  of 
Aton  !  ”  The  old  queen  must  have  felt  as  though 


*  Davies  :  Amarna,  iii.  8,  note  1. 


160 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIG!. 


she  were  back  once  more  in  the  days  of  her 
glory  ;  and  yet  how  different  the  simplicity  of 
the  religious  ceremonies  from  those  of  the  old 
priests  of  Amon-Ra.  There  was  now  but  a 
prayer  or  two  at  the  altar,  a  little  burning  of 
incense,  a  little  bowing  of  the  head,  and  then 
the  procession  back  to  the  palace,  and  the  silent 
closing  of  the  holy  gates. 

9.  THE  DEATH  OF  QUEEN  TIY 

It  is  possible  that  Queen  Tiy  took  up  her 
residence  at  the  City  of  the  Horizon  in  recog¬ 
nition  of  the  lavish  arrangements  which  her  son 
had  made  for  her.  But  whether  this  be  so  or 
not,  it  does  not  seem  that  she  lived  very  long 
to  enjoy  such  renewals  of  the  pomps  which  she 
had  known  in  her  younger  days.  Her  death 
appears  to  have  taken  place  shortly  after  these 
celebrations,  and,  probably  by  her  express  com¬ 
mands,  she  was  embalmed  at  Thebes  and  carried 
from  her  palace  up  the  winding  valley  to  the 
royal  burying-ground  amongst  the  rugged  Theban 
hills.  Akhnaton  showed  his  affection  for  her  by 
presenting  the  furniture  for  the  tomb,  and  in 
the  inscriptions  on  the  outer  coffin  one  reads 
that  “  he  made  it  for  his  mother.”  The  queen- 
dowager  had  evidently  expressed  a  wish  to  be 
buried  near  her  father  and  mother,  Yuaa  and 


THE  DEATH  OF  QUEEN  TIY 


16f 


Tuau  ;  for  the  tomb,  which  is  situated  on  the 
east  side  of  the  valley,  is  within  a  stone’  s-throw 
of  the  sepulchre  where  they  lay.  It  was  entered 
oy  a  steep  flight  of  steps  leading  down  to  a 
sloping  passage,  at  the  end  of  which  was  the 
large  burial  chamber,  the  walls  of  which  were 
carefully  whitewashed.  On  passing  into  this 
chamber  a  great  box-like  shrine,  or  outer  coffin, 
was  to  be  found,  occupying  the  greater  part  of 
the  room.  The  door  to  the  shrine  was  made  of 
costly  cedar  of  Lebanon  covered  with  gold,  and 
was  fitted  with  an  ornamental  bolt.  Many  of 
the  nails  which  held  the  woodwork  together 
were  made  of  pure  gold — a  fact  which  plainly 
shows  us  the  wealth  of  the  royal  treasuries  at 
this  time.  Scenes  were  embossed  on  the  panels 
showing  the  queen  standing  under  the  rays  of 
the  Aton.  The  shrine  itself  was  also  made  of 
cedar,  covered  with  gold,  and  on  all  sides  were 
scenes  of  the  Aton  worship.  Here  Akhnaton 
was  shown  with  Tiy,  and  the  life-giving  rays  of 
the  sun  streamed  around  their  naturally  drawn 
figures.  Inside  this  outer  box  the  coffin  contain¬ 
ing  the  great  queen’s  mummy  was  laid.  The 
usual  funeral  furniture  was  placed  at  the  sides 
of  the  room :  gaily  coloured  boxes,  alabaster 
vases,  faience  toilet-pots,  statuettes,  &c.  Some 
of  the  toilet  utensils  were  made  in  the  form  of 
little  figures  of  the  grotesque  god  Bes,  which 


N 


162 


TENTH  TO  TWELFTH  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 


indicates  that  Akhnaton  still  tolerated  the  recog¬ 
nition  by  other  persons  of  some  of  the  old  gods. 
In  the  inscriptions  upon  the  outer  coffin  he  had 
been  careful  to  call  his  father,  Amenophis  III, 
by  his  second  name,  Nebmaara,  as  often  as 
possible,  in  order  to  avoid  the  writing  of  the 
word  Amon,  his  dislike  of  everything  to  do  with 
that  god  being  profound.  He  allowed  it  to  be 
written,  however,  here  and  there,  as  it  seemed 
right  to  him  that  it  should  appear.  Akhnaton’s 
prejudice  against  the  old  state  god  is  also  shown 
in  another  manner.  Amon’s  consort  was  the 
goddess  Mut  “  the  Mother,”  whose  name  is 
written  in  hieroglyphs  by  a  sign  representing 
a  vulture.  Now  when  the  inscription  mentioned 
the  king’s  mother ,  Tiy,  the  word  mut ,  “  mother,” 
had  to  be  written  ;  but  in  order  to  avoid  a 
similarity — even  in  spelling — to  the  name  of 
the  goddess,  Akhnaton  had  the  word  written 
out  phonetically,  letter  by  letter,  and  thus  dis¬ 
pensed  with  the  use  of  the  vulture  sign.1  Again, 
in  the  name  Nebmaara,  the  meaning  of  which 
is  “  Ra,  Lord  of  Truth,”  the  sign  maa,  “truth,” 
represented  the  goddess  of  that  name.  Akh¬ 
naton’ s  religion  was  much  concerned  with  the 
quality  of  truth,  which  he  regarded  as  one  of 
the  greatest  necessities  to  happiness  and  well- 

i  This  is  to  be  observed  also  in  some  other  inscriptions  of  the 
period. 


THE  DEATH  OF  QUEEN  TIY 


163 


being  ;  and  the  fallacy  of  supposing  that  there 
was  an  actual  deity  of  truth  was  particularly 
apparent  to  him.  He  was,  therefore,  careful  to 
write  the  sign  maa  in  letters  instead  of  with 
the  hieroglyph  of  the  goddess. 

When  the  funeral  ceremonies  came  to  an  end, 
when  the  last  prayer  was  said  and  the  last  cloud 
of  incense  had  floated  to  the  roof,  the  golden 
door  of  the  shrine  was  shut  and  bolted,  the 
outer  doorways  were  walled  up,  and  an  avalanche 
of  stones,  let  down  from  the  chippings  heaped 
near  by,  obliterated  all  traces  of  the  entrance. 
Thus  Akhnaton  paid  his  last  tribute  to  his 
mother  and  to  the  originator,  it  may  be,  of  the 
schemes  which  he  had  carried  into  effect ;  and 
his  last  link  with  the  past  was  severed.  With 
the  death  of  this  good  woman  a  restraining 
influence,  as  kindly  as  it  was  powerful,  slipped 
from  his  arm,  and  a  new  and  fiercer  chapter  of 
his  short  life  began. 


164 


VI 

THE  THIRTEENTH  TO  THE  FIFTEENTH 
YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  AKHNATON 


"  The  episode  of  the  retirement  of  the  king  with  his  whole  court 
to  the  new  palace  and  city,  .  .  .  and  the  strange  life  of  religious 
and  artistic  propaganda  which  he  led  there,  ...  is  one  of  the  most 
curious  and  interesting  in  the  history  of  the  world." — Budge  : 
"  History  of  Egypt.” 


I.  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RELIGION 

OF  ATON 

In  the  Pharaoh’s  hymn  to  the  Aton  we  read 
these  words — 

“  Thou  didst  create  the  earth  according  to  Thy  desire,  .  . 
The  countries  of  Syria  and  Nubia, 

The  land  of  Egypt.  .  .  .  ” 

It  is  certainly  worthy  of  note  that  Syria  and 
Nubia  are  thus  named  before  Egypt,  and  seem 
to  take  precedence  in  Akhnaton’s  mind.  In  the 
same  hymn  the  following  lines  occur  : — 

“  The  Nile  in  heaven  is  for  the  strangers,  .  .  . 

But  the  Nile  [itself],  it  cometh  from  the  nether  world  for 

Egypt.” 

Here  Akhnaton  refers  to  the  rain  which  falls 
in  Syna  to  water  the  lands  of  the  stranger,  and 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


165 


compares'  it  with  the  river  which  irrigates  his 
own  country.  Thus  again  his  thoughts  are  first 
for  Syria  and  then  for  Egypt.  This  is  the  true 
imperial  spirit  *  in  the  broadness  of  the  Pharaoh’s 


AN  EXAMPLE  OF  THE  FRIENDLY  RELATIONS  BETWEEN  SYRIA  AND  EGYPT. 

A  Syrian  soldier  named  Terura,  and  his  wife,  attended  by  an  Egyptian  servant,  who  assists 
him  to  hold  the  tube  through  which  he  is  drinking  wine  from  a  jar.  From  a  tablet  found  at 
EJ  Amarna.  (Zeit.  Aeg.  Spr.  xxxvi.  ia6.) 

mind  his  foreign  possessions  claim  as  much 
attention  as  do  his  own  dominions,  and  demand 
as  much  love.  The  sentiments  are  entirely 
opposed  to  those  of  the  earlier  kings  of  this 
dynasty,  who  ground  down  the  land  of  the 


166  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

“  miserable  ”  foreigner  and  extracted  therefrom 
all  its  riches,  without  regard  to  aught  else. 

Akhnaton  believed  that  his  God  was  the  Father 
of  all  mankind,  and  that  the  Syrian  and  the 
Nubian  were  as  much  under  his  protection  as 
the  Egyptian.  The  religion  of  the  Aton  was 
to  be  a  world-religion.  This  is  a  greater  advance 
in  ethics  than  may  be  at  once  apparent ;  for 
the  Aton  thus  becomes  the  first  deity  who  was 
not  tribal  or  not  national  ever  conceived  by 
mortal  mind.  This  is  the  Christian’s  under¬ 
standing  of  God,  though  not  the  Hebrew  con¬ 
ception  of  Jehovah.  This  is  the  spirit  which 
sends  the  missionary  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth  ;  and  it  was  such  an  attitude  of  mind 
which  now  led  Akhnaton  to  build  a  temple  for 
the  Aton  in  Palestine,  possibly  at  Jerusalem 
itself,  and  another  far  up  in  the  Sudan.  The 
site  of  the  Syrian  temple  is  now  lost,  but  the 
Nubian  buildings  were  recently  discovered  and 
seem  to  have  been  of  considerable  extent. 

At  the  same  time  temples  were  being  erected 
in  various  parts  of  Egypt.  At  Hermonthis  a 
temple  named  “  Horizon  of  Aton  in  Hermonthis  ” 
was  built ;  at  Heliopolis  there  was  a  temple 
named  “  Exaltation  of  Ra  in  Heliopolis,”  and 
also  a  palace  for  the  king  ;  at  Hermopolis  and 
at  Memphis  temples  were  erected  ;  and  in  the 
Fayoum  and  the  Delta  “  Houses  ”  of  Aton  sprang 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  ATON 


167 


up.  Few  real  converts,  however,  seem  to  have 
been  made  ;  for  the  religion  was  far  above  the 
understanding  of  the  people.  In  deference  to 
the  king’s  wishes  the  Aton  was  accepted,  but 
no  love  was  shown  for  the  new  form  of  worship  ; 
and,  indeed,  not  even  in  the  City  of  the  Horizon 
itself  was  it  understood. 

A  certain  change  had  been  recently  made  by 
Akhnaton  in  the  name  of  the  Aton.  The  words 
“  Heat  which  is  in  Aton  ”  did  not  seem  to  him 
to  be  very  happily  chosen.  They  had  been 
used  in  the  earliest  years  of  the  movement,  and 
perhaps  had  not  been  coined  by  Akhnaton 
himself.  The  word  “  heat  ”  was  in  spelling  very 
reminiscent  of  the  name  of  one  of  the  old  gods, 
and,  to  the  uninitiate,  might  suggest  some  con¬ 
nection.  The  name  of  the  Aton  was  therefore 
changed  to  “  Effulgence  which  comes  from  Aton,” 
the  new  words  introducing  into  the  spelling 
the  hieroglyph  of  Ra,  the  sun.  The  exact 
significance  of  the  alteration  is  not  known  ;  but 
one  may  suppose  that  the  new  words  better 
conveyed  the  meaning  which  Akhnaton  wished 
to  imply.  Even  now  it  is  not  easy  to  find  a 
phrase  to  express  that  vital  energy,  that  first 
cause  of  life,  which  the  king  so  clearly  under¬ 
stood. 

The  date  of  this  change  is  somewhat  uncertain, 
though  it  is  definitely  to  be  placed  between  the 


168  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

ninth  and  twelfth  year  of  the  reign,  the  proba¬ 
bility  being  that  it  took  place  in  the  ninth  year,1 
when  Akhnaton  was  about  twenty-five  years 
old.  The  inscriptions  upon  the  outer  coffin,  or 
shrine,  of  Queen  Tiy  show  the  new  form  of 
wording,  for  the  change  had  taken  place  when 
her  shrine  was  made. 

2.  AKHNATON  OBLITERATES  THE 
NAME  OF  AMON 

Until  this  time  it  will  have  been  observed 
that  Akhnaton  had  behaved  with  great  leniency 
towards  the  worshippers  of  the  older  gods,  and 
had  not  even  persecuted  the  priesthood  of  Amon- 
Ra.  It  now  becomes  apparent  that  this  restraint 
was  due  to  his  mother’s  influence,  for  shortly 
after  her  death  Akhnaton  turned  with  the  fierce¬ 
ness  of  a  fanatic  upon  the  latter  institution. 
Possibly  these  Theban  priests  had  attempted 
a  revolt,  or  had  in  some  way  caused  the  King  to 
take  drastic  steps.  He  issued  an  order  that  the 
name  of  Amon  was  to  be  erased  wherever  it 
occurred,  and  this  order  was  carried  out  with  such 
amazing  thoroughness  that  hardly  a  single  occur¬ 
rence  of  the  name  was  overlooked.  Although 
thousands  of  inscriptions,  accessible  to  Akh- 
naton’s  agents,  are  now  known  in  which  the 
name  of  Amon  occurs,  there  are  but  a  few 

*  As  Prof.  Sethc  has  shown  in  an  article  published  in  1921 


AKHNATON  OBLITERATES  THE  NAME  OF  A  MON  169 

examples  in  which  the  god’s  name  has  not  been 
mutilated.  His  agents  hammered  the  name  out 
on  the  walls  of  the  temples  throughout  Egypt ; 
they  penetrated  into  the  tombs  of  the  dead  to 
erase  it  from  the  texts  ;  they  searched  through 
the  minute  inscriptions  upon  small  statuettes 
and  figures,  obliterating  the  name  therefrom ; 
they  made  journeys  into  the  distant  deserts  to 
cut  out  the  name  from  the  rock-scribbles  of 
travellers  ;  they  clambered  over  the  cliffs  beside 
the  Nile  to  erase  it  from  the  graffiti ;  they  entered 
private  houses  to  rub  it  from  small  utensils  where 
it  chanced  to  be  inscribed. 

Akhnaton  was  always  thorough  in  his  under¬ 
takings,  and  half-measures  were  unknown  to 
him.  When  it  came  to  the  question  of  his  own 
father’s  name,  he  seems  not  to  have  hesitated 
to  order  the  obliteration  of  the  word  Amon  in 
it,  though  one  may  suppose  that  in  most  cases 
he  painted  over  it  the  king’s  second  name, 
Nebmaara.  His  agents  burst  their  way  into 
the  tomb  of  Queen  Tiy  and  removed  the  name 
Amenophis  from  the  inscriptions  upon  the  shrine, 
writing  Nebmaara  in  red  ink  over  each  erasure. 
Having  scratched  out  the  name  even  upon  one 
of  the  queen’s  toilet-pots  of  minute  size  they 
retired  from  the  tomb,  building  up  the  wall  at 
the  entrance,  and  continued  their  labours  else¬ 
where.  The  king  was  now  asked  whether  his 


170 


THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


own  name,  Amenophis — which  had  been  used 
before  he  adopted  the  better  known  Akhnaton, 
— was  to  suffer  the  same  fate,  and  the  answer 
seems  to  have  been  in  the  affirmative.  Upon 
the  quarry  tablet  at  Gebel  Silsileh1  the  king’s 
discarded  name  is  thus  erased,  though  it  was 
not  damaged  in  the  tomb  of  Ramose.  The  names 
of  the  various  nobles  and  officials,  male  and 
female,  which  were  compounded  with  Amon — 
Amenhotep,  Setamen,  Amenemhet,  Amenemapt, 
and  so  on — were  ruthlessly  destroyed ;  while 
living  persons  bearing  such  names  were  often 
obliged  to  change  them. 

In  thus  mutilating  his  father’s  name  Akhnaton 
did  not  in  any  way  intend  to  disparage  his 
forbears.  He  was  but  desirous  of  utterly  ob¬ 
literating  Amon  from  the  memory  of  man,  in 
order  that  the  true  God  might  the  better  receive 
acceptance.  He  was  proud  of  his  descent,  and, 
unlike  most  of  his  ancestors,  he  showed  a  desire 
to  honour  the  memory  of  his  father.  We  have 
seen2  how  one  of  his  artists,  Bek,  represented 
the  figure  of  Amenophis  III  upon  his  monument 
at  Aswan.  Huya,  Queen  Tiy’s  steward,  was 
authorised  by  Akhnaton  to  show  that  king  upon 
the  walls  of  his  tomb  ;3  and  in  the  private  temple 
of  Queen  Tiy,  it  will  be  remembered  that  there 

*  Page  54. 

a  Page  92. 

3  Davies  :  El  Amarna,  iii.,  PI.  xviii. 


AKHNATON  OBLITERATES  THE  NAME  OF  AMON  171 

were  statues  of  Amenophis  III.1  Likewise,  the 
earlier  kings  of  the  dynasty  received  unusual 
recognition.  An  official  named  Any  held  the 
office  of  Steward  of  the  House  of  Amenophis 
II.2  and  there  is  a  representation  of  Akhnaton 
offering  to  At  on  in  “  the  House  of  Thutmosis  IV 
in  the  City  of  the  Horizon.”3  Upon  his  boundary 
tablet  Akhnaton  refers  to  Amenophis  III  and 
Thutmosis  IV  as  being  troubled  by  the  priest¬ 
hood  of  Amon. 

It  would  seem  from  the  above  that  there  were 
shrines  dedicated  to  Akhnaton’ s  ancestors  in  the 
City  of  the  Horizon,  each  of  which  had  its  steward 
and  its  officials  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Akh¬ 
naton  arranged  that  a  memorial  shrine  of  the 
same  kind  should  be  erected  for  himself  against 
his  death,  for  we  read  of  a  personage  who  was 
“  Second  Priest  ”  of  the  king,4  and  of  another 
who  was  his  “  High  Priest.”5  It  was  his  desire 
in  this  manner  to  show  the  continuity  of  his 
descent  from  the  Pharaohs  of  the  elder  days, 
and  to  demonstrate  his  real  claim  to  that  title 
“  Son  of  the  Sun  ”  which  had  been  held  by  the 
sovereigns  of  Egypt  ever  since  the  Fifth  Dynasty, 
and  which  was  of  such  vital  importance  in  the 

J  Page  158. 

a  Davies  :  El  Amarna. 

3  Wilkinson  :  Modern  Egypt,  ii.  69. 

4  Davies  :  El  Amarna. 

5  Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford. 


172  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YE  ‘  I:S  OF  REIGN 

new  religion.  It  was  in  this  manner  that  he 

v/', 

claimed  descent  from  Ra,  who  was  to  him  the 
same  with  A  ton  ;  and  just  as  the  great  religious 
teachers  of  the  Hebrews  made  careful  note  of 
their  genealogies  in  order  to  prove  themselves 
descended  from  Adam,  and  hence  in  a  manner 
from  God,  so  Akhnaton  thus  demonstrated  the 
continuity  of  his  line  in  order  to  show  his  real 
right  to  the  titles  “  Child  of  Aton  ”  and  “  Son 
of  the  Sun.” 

3.  THE  GREAT  TEMPLE  OF  ATON 

The  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton  must  now 
have  been  a  very  city  of  temples.  There  were 
these  shrines  dedicated  to  the  king's  ancestors  ; 
there  was  the  temple  of  Queen  Tiy  ;  there  was 
a  shrine  for  the  use  of  Bakelaton,  the  king's 
sister ;  there  was  the  “  House  of  putting  the 
Aton  to  Rest,”  where  Queen  Nefertiti  officiated  ; 
and  there  was  the  great  temple  of  Aton,  in  which 
probably  were  included  other  of  the  buildings 
named  in  the  inscriptions.  The  great  temple 
may  here  be  briefly  described,  as  the  reader  has 
so  far  made  the  acquaintance  only  of  the  build¬ 
ing  belonging  to  Queen  Tiy, 

The  temple  was  entirely  surrounded  by  a  high 
wall,  and  in  this  respect  was  not  unlike  the 
existing  temple  of  Edfu,  which  the  visitor  to 
Egypt  will  assuredly  have  seen.  Inside  the 


THE  GREAT  TEMPLE  OF  ATON 


173 


area  thus  enclosed  there  were  two  buildings, 
the  one  behind  the  other,  standing  clear  of  the 
walls,  thus  leaving  a  wide  ambulatory  around 
them.  Upon  passing  through  the  gates  of  the 
enclosing  wall  there  was  seen  before  one  the 
facade  of  the  first  of  the  two  temples,  while  to 
right  and  left  there  stood  a  small  lodge  or  vestiy. 
The  facade  of  the  temple  was  most  imposing. 
Two  great  pylons  towered  up  before  one,  rising 
from  behind  a  pillared  portico,  and  between 
them  stood  the  gateway  with  its  swinging  doors. 
Up  the  face  of  each  pylon  shot  five  tall  masts, 
piercing  the  blue  sky  above,  and  from  the  heads 
of  each  there  fluttered  a  crimson  pennant. 
Passing  through  the  gateway  one  entered  an 
open  court,  in  the  midst  of  which  stood  the  high 
altar,  up  to  which  a  flight  of  steps  ascended. 
On  either  side  of  this  sun-bathed  enclosure  stood 
a.  series  of  small  chapels  or  chambers ;  while 
in  front  of  one,  in  the  axial  line,  there  was 
another  gatewav  leading  on  into  the  second 
court,  from  which  one  passed  again  into  a  third 
court.  Passing  through  yet  another  gateway, 
a  fourth  division  of  the  temple  was  reached,  this 
being  a  pillared  gallery  or  colonnade  where  one 
might  rest  for  a  while  in  the  cool  shadow.  Then 
onwards  through  another  gateway  into  the  fifth 
court,  crossing  which  one  entered  the  sixth  court, 
where  stood  another  altar  in  the  full  sunshine. 


174  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

A  series  of  some  twenty  little  chambers  were 
built  around  the  sides  of  this  court,  and  looking 
into  the  darkness  beyond  each  of  their  doorways 
one  might  discern  the  simple  tables  and  stands 
with  which  the  rooms  were  furnished.  A  final 
gateway  now  led  one  into  the  seventh  and  last 
court,  where  again  there  was  an  altar,  and  again 
a  series  of  chambers  surrounded  the  open  space. 

Behind  this  main  temple,  and  quite  separate 
from  it  though  standing  within  the  one  enclosure, 
stood  the  lesser  temple,  which  was  probably  the 
more  sacred  of  the  two.  It  was  fronted  by  a 
pillared  portico,  and  before  each  column  stood 
a  statue  of  Akhnaton,  beside  which  was  a  smaller 
figure  of  his  wife  or  one  of  his  daughters. 
Passing  through  the  gateway,  which  was  so 
designed  that  nothing  beyond  could  be  seen,  one 
entered  an  open  court  in  which  stood  the  altar, 
and  around  the  sides  of  which  were  small  chambers. 
Here  the  temple  ended,  save  for  a  few  chambers 
of  uncertain  use,  approached  from  the  ambulatory. 

Both  buildings  were  gay  with  colours,  and  at 
festivals  there  were  numerous  stands  heaped  high 
with  flowers  and  other  offerings,  while  red  ribbons 
added  their  notes  of  brilliant  colour  on  all  sides. 
There  was  nothing  gloomy  or  sombre  in  this 
temple  of  Aton  ;  and  it  contrasts  strikingly  with 
the  buildings  in  which  Amon  was  worshipped. 
There  vast  halls  were  lit  by  minute  windows,  and 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  CITY 


175 


a  dim  uncertainty  hovered  around  the  worshipper. 
Such  temples  lent  themselves  to  mystery,  and 
amidst  their  gloomy  shadows  many  a  suppli¬ 
cant’s  heart  beat  in  terror.  Dark  stairways  led 
to  subterranean  passages,  and  these  passages  to 
black  chambers  built  in  the  thickness  of  the 
wall,  from  whence  the  hollow  voice  of  the  priest 
throbbed  as  from  mid-air  upon  the  ears  of  the 
crouching  congregation.  But  in  Akhnaton’s 
temple  each  court  was  open  to  the  full  blaze  of 
the  sunlight.1  There  was,  there  could  be,  no 
mystery  ;  nor  could  there  be  any  terror  of  dark¬ 
ness  to  loosen  the  knees  of  the  worshipper. 
Akhnaton  had  no  interest  in  incantations  and 
mysteries.  Boldly  he  looked  to  God  as  a  child  to 
its  father ;  and  having  solved  what  he  deemed  to 
be  the  riddle  of  life,  there  was  no  place  in  his 
mind  for  aught  but  an  open,  fearless  adoration  of 
the  Creator  of  that  vital  energy  which  he  saw 
in  all  things.  Akhnaton  was  the  sworn  enemy 
of  the  tableturners  of  his  day,  and  the  tricks 
of  priestcraft,  the  stage  effects  of  religiosity,  were 
anathema  to  his  pure  mind. 

4.  THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  CITY 

The  City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton  was  now  a 
place  of  surpassing  beauty.  Eight  or  nine  years 

*  It  is  probable  that  there  was  some  likeness  between  Akhnaton’s 
temples  and  those  dedicated  to  the  sun  in  early  days,  as,  for  example 
that  at  AbustJr. 


■V 


176"  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

of  lavish  expenditure  in  money  and  skill  had 
transformed  the  fields  and  the  wilderness  into 
as  fair  a  city  as  the  world  had  ever  seen.  One 
of  the  nobles  who  lived  there,  by  name  May, 
describes  it  in  these  words  :  “  The  mighty  City 
of  the  Horizon  of  At  on,  great  in  loveliness, 
mistress  of  pleasant  ceremonies,  rich  in  posses¬ 
sions,  the  offering  of  the  sun  being  in  her  midst. 
At  the  sight  of  her  beauty  there  is  rejoicing. 
She  is  lovely  and  beautiful :  when  one  sees  her 
it  is  like  a  glimpse  of  heaven.” 

Besides  the  temples  and  public  buildings  the 
city  was  adorned  with  numerous  palaces,  each 
standing  in  fair  gardens.  One  of  these  man¬ 
sions,1  represented  in  the  tomb  of  Meryra,  seems 
to  have  constituted  a  happy  combination  of 
comfort  and  simplicity,  as  may  be  seen  from 
its  pictures.  One  entered  a  walled  court,  and 
so  passed  to  the  main  entrance  cf  the  house. 
A  portico,  the  roof  of  which  was  supported  by 
four  decorative  columns  festooned  with  ribbons, 
sheltered  the  elaborate  doorway  from  the  sun¬ 
shine.  Passing  through  this  doorway,  from  the 
top  of  which  a  row  of  cobras  gleamed  down 
upon  one,  a  pillared  hall  was  reached.;  and 
beyond  this  the  visitor  entered  the  great  dining- 
hall.  Twelve  columns  supported  the  ceiling, 
which  was  probably  painted  with  flights  of  birds  ; 

*  Perhaps  this  is  a  part  of  the  royal  palace. 


Akhnaton 

From  his  Statuette  in  the  Louvre 
(See  page  179) 


A  Portrait  Head  of  Akhnaton 
found  at  El  Amarna 

(See  page  180 ) 


Fragment  of  a  head  of  Akhnaton,  now  at  Berlin 
(From  a  drawing  by  the  author) 

(See  page  180 ) 


s 


* 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  CITY 


17? 


and  under  a  kind  of  kiosk  in  the  middle  of  the 
hall  stood  the  dining-table  and  several  comfortable 
arm-chairs,  cushioned  in  bright  colours.  Beyond 
this  hall  there  was  a  court,  at  the  back  of  which 
were  several  chambers,  one  being  a  bedroom, 
as  a  great  cushioned  bedstead  clearly  shows. 
The  owner’s  womenfolk  probably  occupied 
another  portion  of  the  building  not  shown  in 
the  representations. 

The  palace  of  Ay,  Akhnaton’s  father-in-law, 
was  a  more  pretentious  building.  It  was  entered 
by  a  fine  doorway  which  led  into  a  court.  A 
second  door  gave  entrance  to  the  large,  pillared 
dining-hall,  and  through  this  one  passed  into 
a  court  from  which  bedrooms  and  boudoirs  led 
off.  In  one  of  these  rooms  two  women,  clad  in 
airy  garments,  are  seen  to  be  dancing  with  one 
another,  while  a  man  plays  a  harp.  In  another 
room  a  girl  likewise  dances  to  the  strains  of 
a  harp,  while  a  servant  dresses  the  hair  of  one  of 
the  gentlemen  of  the  household.  Other  rooms 
contain  lutes,  harps,  and  lyres,  as  well  as  objects 
of  the  toilet.  A  little  court  is  now  reached, 
where  fragrant  flowers  grow,  and  tanks  of  water, 
sunk  in  the  decorated  pavement,  give  a  sense  of 
coolness  to  the  air.  Beyond  this  are  more  apart¬ 
ments,  and  finally  the  kitchens  are  reached. 
Throughout  the  house  stand  delicate  tables  upon 
which  jars  of  wine  or  dishes  of  fruit  are  to  be 


178  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

seen ;  and  cushioned  arm-chairs,  with  footstools 
before  them,  are  ready  for  the  weary.  Servants 
are  seen  passing  to  and  fro  bearing  refreshments, 
or  stopping  to  dust  the  floor,  or  again  idly 
talking  in  the  passages. 

Akhnaton’s  palace  is  not  very  clearly  shown 
in  the  tomb  reliefs  or  paintings,  but  portions 
of  it  were  found  in  the  modern  excavations  on 
the  site.  Like  all  the  residential  buildings  of 
the  period,  it  was  an  airy  and  light  structure 
made  of  brick.  The  walls,  ceilings,  and  floors 
were  covered  with  the  most  beautiful  paintings, 
and  delicate  pillars,  inlaid  with  coloured  glass 
and  stone,  or  covered  with  realistically  painted 
vines  and  creepers,  supported  the  light  ceilings 
of  its  halls.  Portions  of  the  pavement  are  still 
preserved,  and  the  visitor  to  the  site  of  the  city 
may  still  see  the  paintings  there  depicted. 
A  young  calf,  frisking  in  the  sunlight,  gallops 
through  a  field  of  red  poppies  ;  wild  geese  rise 
from  the  marshes  and  beat  their  way  through 
the  reeds,  disturbing  the  butterflies  as  they  do 
so  ;  amidst  the  lotus-flowers  resting  upon  the 
rippling  water  the  sinuous  fish  are  seen  to 
wander.  These  are  but  fragments  of  the  paint¬ 
ings  which  once  delighted  the  eyes  of  the 
Pharaoh,  or  brought  a  sigh  to  the  lips  of  his 
queen. 

The  art  of  the  painter  of  this  period  excels  in 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  CITY 


179 


the  depiction  of  animal  and  plant  life.  The 
winding,  tangled  stems  and  leaves  of  vines  were 
carefully  studied  ;  the  rapid  motions  of  animals 
were  correctly  caught ;  and  it  has  been  said  that 
in  these  things  the  artists  of  Akhnaton  were 


at  work  on  a  statuette  of  Baketaton. 

greater  than  those  in  any  other  Oriental  art.1 
Sculpture  in  the  round,  too,  reached  a  pitch  of 
excellence  never  before  known.  The  statue  of 
Akhnaton  illustrated  in  the  frontispiece  is  the 
work  of  one  who  may.  rank  with  Donatello;  and 

*  Petrie  :  History  of  Egypt,  ii.  219. 


180  THIRTEENTH  TO,  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

the  bust  of  Nefertiti  now  in  Berlin  is  perhaps  the 
most  lifelike  portrait  in  all  Egyptian  art. 

In  the  tomb  of  Huya  there  is  a  scene  repre¬ 
senting  an  artist  named  Auta,  seated  in  his  studio 
giving  the  final  touches  to  a  statue  of  Princess 
Baketaton.  He  sits  upon  a  low  stool,  palette 
in  hand,  and,  as  was  the  custom,  colours  the 
surface  of  the  statue.  Unlike  the  stiff  "‘conven¬ 
tional  poses  of  earlier  work,  the  attitude  of  the 
young  girl  is  easy  and  graceful.  One  hand  hangs 
by  her  side  :  in  the  other  she  holds  a  pome¬ 
granate,  which  she  is  about  to  raise  to  her  lips, 
Auta’s  assistant  stands  beside  the  figure,  and 
near  by  two  apprentices  work  upon  objects  of 
less  importance,  their  chisels  on  a  table  by  their 
side.  The  studio  of  another  sculptor  named 
Thutmose  was  found  recently,  and  in  it  a  number 
of  beautiful  busts  came  to  light,  some  of  which 
are  here  illustrated. 

Works  such  as  these  which  Thutmose,  Auta, 
and  their  companions  were  turning  out  are 
permanent  memorials  of  the  reign  of  Akhnaton, 
which  will  carry  his  name  through  the  years 
until,  as  he  would  say,  “  the  swan  turns  black 
and  the  crow  turns  white.”  There  must  surely 
come  a  time,  and  soon,  when  the  art  of  Egypt 
will  receive  more  attention  ;  and  one  may  then 
hear  Akhnaton' s  name  coupled  with  that  of  the 
Medici  as  the  patron,  if  not  the  teacher,  of  great 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  CITY 


181 


masters.  It  was  he  who  released  them  from 
convention,  and  bade  their  hands  repeat  what 
their  eyes  saw  ;  and  it  was  he  who  directed  those 
eyes  to  the  beauties  of  nature  around  them. 
He,  and  no  other,  taught  them  to  look  at  the 
world  in  the  spirit  of  life,  to  infuse  into  the  cold 
stone  something  of  the  “  effulgence  which  comes 
from  A  ton  ”  ;  and,  if  these  few  treasures  which 
have  survived  the  utter  wreck  of  the  City  of  the 
Horizon  have  put  one’s  heart  to  a  happy  step, 
it  was  Akhnaton  who  first  set  the  measure. 

The  excavations  now  (1922)  being  conducted 
by  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society  on  the  site 
of  the  city  have  laid  bare  the  remains  of  palaces 
and  gardens  which  must  have  been  of  great 
beauty.  There  is,  for  instance,  the  “  Precinct 
of  Aton,”  a  sort  of  sacred  pleasure-garden,  wherein 
the  beauties  of  nature  were  gathered  as  though  in 
living  illustration  of  the  oft-repeated  words  of  the 
Aton  hymns — “  O  Lord,  how  manifold  are  all  Thy 
works ;  how  excellent  are  Thy  designs,  O  Lord !  ” 

This  “  Precinct  ”  consists  of  two  large,  walled 
enclosures,  the  first  of  which  was  entered  through 
a  hall  of  thirty-six  columns,  beyond  which  there 
was  a  small  artificial  lake  set  amidst  trees  and 
shrubs,  the  stumps  and  roots  of  which  are  still 
to  be  seen,  planted  in  beds  of  earth  which  had 
been  brought  up  into  the  sandy  desert  from  the 
banks  of  the  Nile.  This  lake  seems  to  have  been 


182  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

stocked  with  fish,  and  the  roots  and  withered 
remains  of  the  lotus-flowers  and  water-lilies  which 
graced  its  surface  have  been  found.  At  one  side 
of  this  enclosure  there  are  a  series  of  buildings 
which  appear  to  have  been  used  as  a  sort  of 
home-farm  wherein  were  housed  the  cattle,  sheep, 
ducks,  and  so  forth,  described  in  the  Aton  hymns 
as  ever  giving  praise  to  God. 

In  the  second  enclosure,  which  leads  from  the 
first,  there  was  a  larger  lake,  again  surrounded 
by  gardens,  and  having  a  little  quay  built  out 
into  it,  as  though  pleasure-boats  had  been  used 
upon  the  water.  There  were  beautiful  summer¬ 
houses  or  kiosks  in  the  garden,  and  along  the 
north  edge  of  the  lake  a  fine  colonnade  was  built, 
where  one  might  sit  in  the  shade  to  gaze  upon 
the  splendour  of  the  sun  reflected  in  the  still 
water.  Near  by  there  were  wine  cellars,  two 
of  which  were  found  still  sealed  up  and  containing 
wine-jars  marked  with  the  date  of  the  vintage 
and  its  quality.  “  Very  good  wine  ”  is  written 
on  certam  of  these  jars. 

In  a  corner  of  this  enclosure  there  was  a  pecu¬ 
liarly  beautiful  little  kiosk,  the  columns  of  which 
rose  from  out  sunken  tanks  of  water  once  filled 
with  lotus-flowers.  The  walls  and  pillars  were 
decorated  with  painted  clusters  of  purple  grapes 
and  red  pomegranates,  blue  lotus-flowers  and 
green  leaves ;  and  wild  ducks  were  depicted 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  CITY 


183 


flying  upwards  into  the  azure  sky.  A  path, 
flanked  by  flower  beds,  led  to  another  little  lake 
wherein  was  an  island  approached  by  an  orna¬ 
mental  bridge.  On  this  island  there  was  a 
summer-house  decorated  with  faience  tiles  and 
charmingly  painted  designs.1 

Several  of  the  palaces  and  villas  of  the  nobles 
have  been  laid  bare  in  these  amazing  excavations, 
most  of  them  being  built  along  the  two  main 
avenues  of  the  city,  known  as  the  Street  of  the 
High  Priest  and  the  King’s  Highway  ;  and  a 
brief  description  may  here  be  given  of  one 
of  these  houses — that  of  Akhnaton's  Vizier, 
Nakht.  The  building  stands  upon  a  raised  plat¬ 
form,  and  the  front  door  is  approached  by  a 
flight  of  steps.  A  two-columned  lobby  and  vesti¬ 
bule  lead  to  the  North  Loggia,  which  is  a  sort  of 
hall  or  verandah  having  large  open  casements 
overlooking  the  gardens.  The  ceiling,  painted 
a  brilliant  blue,  is  supported  by  eight  decorated 
wooden  columns  set  on  stone  bases ;  the  walls 
are  vivid  white  with  a  frieze  of  blue  lotus-flowers 
on  a  green  ground  ;  and  the  floor  is  of  painted 
tiles.  A  doorway  at  each  end  of  the  Loggia  leads 
into  service  rooms,  and  through  another  in  the 
middle  the  Central  Hall  is  approached.  This 

i  The  sand  of  the  desert  has  blown  over  the  ruins  of  the  city  to 
the  depth  of  a  few  feet,  and  the  excavators  have  but  to  remove  this 
soft  covering  to  reveal  the  well-preserved  remains  of  all  such  gardens 
and  the  lower  parts  of  walls  and  columns. 


184 


THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


Hall,  some  thirty  feet  square,  had  four  stone 
columns  to  support  its  elaborately  decorated 
ceiling.  Along  one  side  a  low  divan  was  built, 
and  upon  this,  no  doubt,  rugs  and  cushions  were 
placed.  In  front  of  it  there  was  a  circular  hearth 
set  in  a  depression  in  the  floor  ;  and  here  a  fire 
burned  during  the  cold  winter  evenings,  the 
smoke  passing  out  through  windows  near  the  roof. 
In  another  part  of  the  Hall  there  was  an  ablution 
platform  of  stone,  where  the  Vizier  or  his  guests 
stood  while  their  hands  and  feet  were  washed 
by  servants  in  the  usual  Oriental  manner. 

Four  doors  lead  from  this  Hall  to  the  inner 
rooms,  including  the  Vizier’s  bedroom,  wherein 
the  bed  stood  upon  a  raised  dais ;  to  the  West 
Loggia,  which  caught  the  afternoon  sun,  so 
pleasant  in  winter,  and  afforded  cool  morning 
shade  in  the  hot  weather ;  and  to  the  stairs 
which  ascended  to  the  now  destroyed  upper  floors 
and  flat  roof.  Near  the  bedroom  was  the  bath¬ 
room,  where  the  bather  stood  upon  a  stone  slab 
while  water  was  poured  over  him  by  his  servants, 
the  waste  draining  away  into  a  sunken  basin. 
Next  door  to  the  bathroom  was  the  chamber 
in  which  there  was  an  earth-closet. 

Houses  such  as  these  were  each  surrounded  by 
gardens  in  which  were  charming  little  kiosks, 
and  probably  a  small  lotus-pond.  Granaries  and 
store  chambers  stood  near  the  whitewashed 


Vases  of  Varicoloured  Glass  found  at  El  Amama  by 
the  Egypt  Exploration  Society 

( See  page  181) 


akhnaton’s  affection  for  his  family  185 

enclosing- wall,  and  there  was  usually  a  well  from 
which  the  household  water-supply  was  drawn. 

5.  AKHNATON’S  AFFECTION  FOR  HIS  FAMILY 

In  about  the  thirteenth  year  of  the  reign  a 
fifth  daughter  was  born,  who  was  named  Nefer- 
neferura.  It  is  significant  that  the  name  of 
Aton,  of  which  all  the  previous  daughters'  names 
had  been  compounded,  now  gives  place  to  Ra. 
A  sixth  daughter  seems  to  have  made  her  appear¬ 
ance  somewhat  over  a  year  later,  some  time 
during  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign.  Again 
Ra  is  used  in  the  name  instead  of  Aton,  she 
being  called  Setepenra.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
what  was  the  meaning  of  this  slight  change  in 
the  theological  aspect  of  the  religion  at  this 
period,  but  it  seems  evident  that  certain  develop¬ 
ments  in  which  Ra  figured  were  now  introduced. 

No  son  was  yet  forthcoming,  and  both  the 
king  and  the  queen  must  now  have  suffered  six 
successive  disappointments.  It  may  be  men¬ 
tioned  here  that  the  next  child  born  to  the 
unfortunate  couple  in  the  following  year  proved 
to  be  a  seventh  girl  and  a  seventh  disappoint¬ 
ment  ;  and  in  the  remaining  two  years  of  the 
reign  no  other  child  was  born,  or  at  any  rate 
was  weaned,  so  that  Akhnaton  died  sonless. 
It  is  strange  to  picture  this  lofty-minded  preacher 
in  his  home,  with  his  six  little  girls  around  him, 


186 


THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


as  he  is  shown  upon  the  monuments.  No  other 
Pharaoh  thus  portrayed  himself  surrounded  by 
his  family  ;  but  Akhnaton  seems  to  have  never 
been  happy  unless  all  his  children  were  with 
him  and  his  wife  by  his  side.  The  charm  of 
family  life,  and  the  sanctity  of  the  relationship 
of  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children,  seems 
to  have  been  an  important  point  of  doctrine  to 
him.  He  urged  his  nobles,  also,  to  give  their 


attention  to  their  families  ;  and  in  the  tomb  of 
Panehesy,  for  example,  one  may  see  representa¬ 
tions  of  that  personage  sitting  with  his  wife  and 
his  three  daughters  around  him.  A  little 
statuette,  now  in  Berlin,  shows  the  king  seated 
upon  his  throne,  and  nursing  one  of  his  little 
daughters  upon  his  knees.  He  is  in  the  act  of 
kissing  her,  and  their  lips  are  in  contact — an 
intimate  attitude  which  is  all  the  more  amazing 
when  one  remembers  the  usual  severity  and 


akhnaton's  affection  for  his  family  187 

restraint  shown  in  Egyptian  statuary  of  other 
periods. 

The  King  of  Babylon,  Burraburiash,  wrote  to 
Akhnaton  in  about  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth 
year  of  the  reign,  asking  for  one  of  the  Pharaoh’s 
daughters  as  a  wife  for  his  son.  Wishing  to  be 
on  friendly  terms  with  Babylonia,  Akhnaton 
consented  to  the  union,  and  selected  probably 
his  fourth  daughter,  Neferneferuaton,  as  the 
future  Queen  of  Babylon.  His  eldest  daughter 
subsequently  married  a  noble  named  Smenkhkara, 
who  succeeded  to  the  throne  after  the  death  of 
Akhnaton ;  and  his  third  daughter  was  later 
married  to  another  noble  named  Tutankhaton, 
who  usurped  the  throne,  as  we  shall  see  in  the 
sequel.  The  fact  that  neither  of  these  daughters 
was  now  chosen  to  marry  the  Babylonian  prince 
indicates  that  they  were  already  betrothed  to 
their  future  husbands,  and  hence  this  event  could 
not  have  taken  place  much  earlier  than  the 
date  mentioned  above.  The  second  daughter, 
Meketaton,  was  not  selected  for  the  reason  that 
she  seems  to  have  been  in  a  precarious  state  of 
health.  The  little  princess  who  was  chosen  was 
bom  in  the  tenth  year  of  the  reign,  and  was  now 
not  more  than  five  years  of  age.  Akhnaton  did 
not  at  once  send  the  child  to  her  future  home, 
but  arranged  the  marriage  by  proxy,  and  thus 
kept  his  daughter  with  him  for  yet  a  few  years. 


188  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

This  is  made1  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  a  letter 
from  Burraburiash  to  Akhnaton,  the  Babylonian 
king  states  that  he  is  sending  a  necklace  of  over 
a  thousand  stones  to  the  “  Pharaoh's  daughter, 
the  wife  of  his  son,"  who  is  thus  evidentlv  still 
resident  in  Egypt. 

Besides  Akhnaton' s  six,  and  presently  seven, 
daughters  there  were  two  other  princesses  prob¬ 
ably  in  residence  at  the  palace.  One  of  these, 
his  young  sister  Baketaton,  whom  we  have  seen 
visiting  the  City  of  the  Horizon  with  her  mother, 
is  not  again  heard  of,  and  perhaps  did  not  long 
survive  the  dowager-queen’s  death.  The  other 
was  Nezemmut,  the  sister  of  Queen  Nefertiti, 
who  had  probably  married  some  Egyptian  noble. 
Her  portraits  are  shown  in  the  tombs  of  May, 
Panehesy,  and  Ay  ;  and  she  is  generally  seen 
to  be  accompanied  by  two  female  dwarfs,  named 
Para  and  Reneheh,  who  appear  to  have  waddled 
after  her  wherever  she  went.  She  was  still,  no 
doubt,  very  young,  and  these  two  grotesque 
attendants  were  entrusted  with  her  safety  as 
well  as  her  amusement. 

6.  AKHNATON’S  FRIENDS 

The  simple  and  homely  manner  in  which# 
Akhnaton  is  represented  by  his  artists,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  his  children,  is  an  indication  that 
although  he  demanded  much  homage  from  his 


AKHNATON’S  FRIENDS 


189 


subjects  in  his  capacity  as  their  Pharaoh,  he  but 
asked  for  their  sympathy  and  affection  in  all 
other  connections.  As  Pharaoh  his  person  was 
inapproachable  and  his  attitude  aloof,  but  as  a 
man  he  never  failed  to  set  an  example  of  what 
he  considered  a  man  should  do  ;  and  even  upon 
his  throne,  to  which  one  might  but  advance 
with  bowed  head  and  bended  knee,  he  displayed 
his  mortal  nature  to  all  beholders  by  joking  with 
his  children  or  paying  fond  attention  to  his  wife. 
So,  also,  many  of  his  disciples  and  courtiers, 
who  so  ceremoniously  approached  the  steps  of 
his  throne,  were  in  reality  his  good  friends  and 
intimates.  Akhnaton  did  not  care  very  much 
for  aristocratic  traditions,  and  although  he 
demanded  the  conventional  respect  of  his  subjects, 
and  upheld  the  less  tiresome  rules  of  court 
etiquette,  many  of  his'  closest  friends  were  of 
peasant  origin,  and  the  hands  which  now  held 
the  jewelled  ostrich-plume  standards  could  as 
easily  grasp  the  pick  or  the  plough. 

May,  a  high  official  of  the  city,  speaks  of  him¬ 
self  in  the  following  words  :  “  I  was  a  m*m  of 
low  origin  both  on  my  father's  and  on  my  mother’s 
side,  but  the  King  established  me ....  He 
caused  me  to  grow  ...  by  his  bounty  when 
I  was  a  man  of  no  property  ;  .  .  .  he  gave  me 
food  and  provisions  every  day,  I  who  had  been 
one  that  begged  bread.”  Huya,  Queen  Tiy’s 


190  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEEN T  I  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

steward,  speaks  of  the  king  as  selecting  his  officials 
from  the  ranks  of  the  yeomen.  Panehesy  tells 
us  that  Akhnaton  is  one  “  who  maketh  princes 
and  formeth  the  humble,”  and  he  adds  :  “  When 
I  knew  not  the  companionship  of  princes  I  was 
made  an  intimate  of  the  King.”  But  if  the 
Pharaoh  raised  men  from  the  ranks,  he  was  also 
capable  of  degrading  those  who  offended  against 
the  standards  which  he  had  set  up.  Thus  May 
seems  to  have  been  disgraced  and  turned  out  of 
the  city. 

The  tomb  of  the  police  official,  Mahu,  who 
was  a  favourite  of  the  king,  though  probably 
not  of  exalted  origin,  has  provided  us  with  some 
scenes  relating  to  his  official  work  which  are  of 
considerable  interest.  In  one  series  of  these  we 
are  shown  the  capture  of  some  foreigners,  or 
perhaps  Beduin,  who  may  have  belonged  to  some 
gang  of  thieves  or  rebels.  Mahu  has  been 
awakened  m  the  early  hours  of  a  winter  morning 
by  the  news  of  the  disturbance,  and  as  he  listens 
to  the  report  a  servant  blows  a  small  fire  into 
flame,  since  the  morning  air  is  chilly.  He  then 
sends  for  his  chariot  and  drives  to  the  scene  of 
the  crime,  whatever  it  may  be  ;  and  soon  he  has 
effected  the  arrest  of  some  of  the  culprits. 
These  men  are  then  conveyed  to  the  Vizir,  who, 
with  his  staff,  receives  Mahu  with  exclamations 
of  approval.  “  Examine  these  men,  O  Princes,” 


akhnaton’s  friends 


191 


says  the  police  officer,  “  whom  the  foreigners 
have  instigated.”  From  these  words  it  might 
seem  that  the  prisoners  were  foreign  spies,  or 
even  assassins  plotting  against  the  life  of  the 
Pharaoh. 

Whether  from  fear  of  a  revolt  in  Egypt  or 
from  mere  custom,  the  City  of  the  Horizon  was 
closely  defended  at  this  time,  and  there  is  a 
scene  in  this  same  tomb  in  which  Akhnaton  is 
shown  inspecting  the  fortifications.  He  drives 
in  his  chariot  with  his  wife  and  his  eldest 
daughter  Merytaton  ;  and  although  the  spirited 
horses  would  appear  to  be  difficult  to  manage, 
the  more  so  because  the  mischievous  Merytaton 
is  poking  them  with  a  stick,  Akhnaton  is  a 
sufficiently  good  driver  to  be  able  to  carry  on 
a  conversation  with  the  queen,  and  to  address 
a  few  words  to  Mahu,  who  runs  by  the  side  of 
the  chariot.  In  striking  contrast  to  the  custom 
of  other  Pharaohs,  Akhnaton  is  accompanied  by 
an  unarmed  bodyguard  of  police  as  he  drives 
round  the  defences  ;  and  in  this  we  may  perhaps 
see  an  indication  of  his  popularity  .  The  fortifica¬ 
tions,  it  may  be  noted,  consist  of  blockhouses 
built  at  regular  intervals,  and  defended  by  rope 
entanglements. 

In  several  of  the  tombs  there  are  representa¬ 
tions  of  their  owners  receiving  rewards  from  the 
king  for  their  diligence  in  their  official  works, 


192 


THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


or  for  their  intelligent  acceptance  of  his  teaching. 
A  high  official  named  Pentu  has  left  us  a  scene 
in  which  Akhnaton  is  shown  seated  in  the  hall 
of  his  palace,  while  Pentu  stands  before  him  to 
receive  numerous  golden  collars  at  the  royal 
hands  in  recognition  of  his  services.  A  part  of 
the  palace  is  shown,  but  the  scene  is  much 
damaged  :  a  small  pond  or  tank  surrounded  by 
flowers  is  shown  in  one  comer  of  the  enclosure, 
but  the  plan  of  the  various  rooms  is  confused, 
and  is  quite  subsidiary  to  the  representation  of 
the  hall  where  the  Pharaoh  receives  the  happy 
Pentu.  Akhnaton  seems  to  have  been  a  good 
friend,  as  he  was  a  stern  enemy  ;  and  those  who 
assisted  him  in  the  difficult  tasks  which  he  had 
set  himself  were  lavishly  rewarded  for  their 
pains. 

7.  AKHNATOVS  TROUBLES 

Akhnaton’s  health  was  so  very  uncertain  that 
he  hastened  to  construct  for  himself  a  tomb 
in  the  cliffs  behind  the  City  of  the  Horizon. 
He  selected  as  the  site  of  his  last  resting-place 
a  gaunt  and  rugged  valley  which  here  cuts  into 
the  hills,  leading  back>  around  tumbled  rocks 
and  up  dry  watercourses,  to  the  Arabian  desert 
beyond.  It  is 

“  A  savage  place ! —  as  holy  and  enchanted 
As  e’er  beneath  a  waning  moon  was  haunted 
By  woman  wailing  for  her  demon-lover.” 


A  Sculptured  Head  of  one  of  Akhnaton’s  Daughters,  Head  of  one  of  Akhnaton’s  Daughters  now  in  Berlin 

found  at  El  Amarna  (From  a  drawing  by  the  author) 

( See  page  183 )  (See  page  183 ) 


AKHN ATOM'S  TROUBLES 


1§3 


Here  Akhnaton  elected  to  be  buried,  where 
hyaenas  prowled  and  jackals  wandered,  and  where 
the  desolate  cry  of  the  night-owls  echoed  over 
the  rocks.  In  winter  the  cold  wind  sweeps 
up  this  valley  and  howls  around  the  rocks  ;  in 
summer  the  sun  makes  of  it  a  veritable  furnace 
unendurable  to  men.  There  is  nothing  here 
to  remind  one  of  the  God  who  watches  over 
him,  and  the  tender  Aton  of  the  Pharaoh’s  con¬ 
ception  would  seem  to  have  abandoned  this  place 
to  the  spirits  of  evil.  There  are  no  flowers  where 
Akhnaton  cut  his  sepulchre,  and  no  birds  sing  ; 
for  the  king  believed  that  his  soul,  caught  up 
into  the  noon  of  Paradise,  would  be  freed  from 
the  tomb. 

The  sepulchre  consisted  of  a  passage,  descending 
into  the  hill,  and  leading  to  a  rock-cut  hall,  the 
roof  of  which  was  supported  by  four  columns. 
Here  stood  the  sarcophagus  of  pink  granite  in 
which  the  Pharaoh’s  mummy  would  lie.  The 
walls  of  this  hall  were  covered  with  scenes  carved 
in  plaster,  1  representing  various  phases  of  the 
Aton  worship.  From  the  passage  there  led 
another  small  chamber  beyond  which  a  further 
passage  was  cut,  perhaps  to  lead  to  a  second 
hall  in  which  the  queen  should  be  buried  ;  but 
the  work  was  never  finished. 

*  The  plaster  has  now  fallen  off,  and  little  of  the  original  decoration 
remains.  The  tomb  is  seldom  visited  by  tourists,  being  seven  miles 
back  from  the  river  ;  but  it  is  in  charge  of  the  Government  custodian 


194 


THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


The  construction  of  the  tomb  was  interrupted 
by  the  death  of  Akhnaton’s  second  daughter, 
Meketaton,  who  had  barely  lived  to  see  her  ninth 
birthday.  It  has  already  been  seen  that  she 
seems  to  have  been  ailing  for  some  time,  and 
her  death  was  perhaps  no  surprise  to  her  parents. 
Their  grief,  however,  was  none  the  less  acute 
for  this  ;  and  when  the  body  of  the  little  girl 
had  been  laid  to  rest  in  one  of  the  chambers  of 
her  father’s  tomb,  the  walls  were  covered  at 
Akhnaton’s  order  with  scenes  representing  the 
grief  of  the  bereaved  family.  Here  Oueen 
Nefertiti  is  seen  holding  in  her  arms  her  lately 
born  seventh  daughter,  whose  name,  ending 
in  ...  t,  is  now  lost  ;  while  the  five  other 
little  girls  weep  with  their  parents  beside  the 
bier  of  their  dead  sister.  It  is  a  pathetic  picture 
and  one  which  stirs  our  sympathy  for  a  Pharaoh 
who,  unlike  other  kings  of  Egypt,  could  weep 
for  the  loss  of  a  daughter. 

This  was  not  Akhnaton’s  only  grief.  His 
doctrines  were  not  being  accepted  in  Egypt  as 
readily  as  he  had  hoped,  and  he  was  probably 
able  to  detect  a  considerable  amount  of  insin¬ 
cerity  in  the  attitude  of  those  around  him. 
There  was  hardly  a  man  whom  he  could  trust 
to  continue  in  the  faith  should  he  himself  die  ; 
and  even  as  he  put  the  last  touches  to  his 
temples  and  his  palaces  he  was  aware  that  he 


akhnaton’s  troubles 


195 


had  built  his  house  upon  the  sand.  The  empire 
which  he  had  dreamed  of,  bound  together  by 
the  ties  of  a  common  worship  of  Aton,  was  fast 
fading  out  of  sight,  and  the  news  which  reached 
him  from  Syria  was  disquieting  in  the  extreme. 

At  this  time  the  King  of  Babylon,  whose  son 
had  married  Akhnaton’s  daughter,  seems  to  have 
been  on  bad  terms  with  his  neighbour,  the  King 
of  Mitanni,  and  Akhnaton  came  nigh  to  being 
drawn  into  the  quarrel.  The  Babylonian  king 
had  been  ill  for  some  time,  and  in  the  course  of 
the  international  correspondence  Nefertiti  had 
never  sent  her  condolences  to  him.  This  was 
much  resented,  and  the  King  of  Babylon  at  last 
sent  an  insulting  letter  to  Akhnaton,  in  which 
he  states  that  he  is  sending  him  the  usual  present 
of  decorative  objects  which  etiquette  required 
of  him,  but  that  he  wishes  it  to  be  understood 
that  only  a  fraction  of  the  gift  is  intended  for 
the  “  mistress  of  his  house,”  i.e.,  Nefertiti,  since 
she  had  not  troubled  to  ask  after  his  health. 

Shortly  after  this  he  wrote  another  letter 
to  Akhnaton  making  various  complaints,  and 
stating  that  his  messengers  had  been  robbed  in 
territory  belonging  to  the  Pharaoh,  who  must 
therefore  make  good  their  losses.  A  third  letter 
makes  similar  complaints,  and  hints  at  future 
trouble.  Meanwhile  the  King  of  Mitanni  was 
on  none  too  friendly  terms  with  Akhnaton,  and 


196  THIRTEENTH  TO  FIFTEENTH  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

appears  to  have  detained  the  Pharaoh's  envoy, 
named  Mani,  thereby  causing  Akhnaton  con¬ 
siderable  anxiety.  There  was,  in  fact,  a  general 
tendency  to  disparage  the  Egyptian  king,  which 
must  have  been  exceedingly  galling  to  Akhnaton, 
who  had  the  power  to  let  loose  upon  Asia  an 
army  which  would  silence  all  insult,  but  did 
not  find  such  a  step  consistent  with  his  prin¬ 
ciples.  In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  one  of 
the  Syrian  princes  whose  fidelity  was  doubtful, 
Akhnaton  ends  his  despatch  with  the  words: 
“  I  am  very  well,  I  the  sun  in  the  heavens, 
and  my  chariots  and  soldiers  are  exceedingly 
numerous ;  and  from  Upper  Egypt  even  unto 
Lower  Egypt,  and  from  the  place  where  the 
sun  riseth  even  unto  the  place  where  he  setteth, 
the  whole  country  is  in  good  cause  and  content." 
Thus  we  see  that  Akhnaton  knew  his  power, 
and  wished  that  others  should  know  it ;  and 
it  is  therefore  the  more  surprising  that,  as  we 
shall  presently  find,  he  never  chose  to  use  it. 


197 


VII 

THE  LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  REIGN 

OF  AKHNATON 


“  I  know,  he  said,  what  you  like  is  to  look  at  the  mountains,  or  to 
go  up  among  them  and  kill  things.  But  I  like  the  running  water 
in  a  quiet  garden,  with  a  rose  reflected  in  it,  and  the  nightingale 
singing  to  it.  Listen!” — Mirza  Mahomed  in  “The  Story  of  Valeh 
and  Hadijeh.” 


i.  THE  HITTITE  INVASION  OF  SYRIA 

In  1887  and  1891  the  series  of  letters,  now  famous 
as  the  “  Tell  el  Amarna  Letters,”  were  found 
by  native  diggers  on  the  site  of  Akhnaton’s  city. 
They  are  tablets  of  baked  clay  inscribed  in 
cuniform  characters,  and  are  the  actual  cor¬ 
respondence  which  passed  between  the  Kings  of 
Egypt,  Babylon,  Assyria,  etc.  From  them  the 
events  about  to  be  recorded  have  become  known 
to  us  ;  and  the  importance  of  the  present  excava¬ 
tions  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society  upon 
this  site  will  be  understood  when  it  is  realised 
that  very  probably  more  letters  of  this  kind  will 
be  found. 


198 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


The  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  is  bounded 
on  the  south  by  Egypt  and  the  desert,  on  the 
east  by  Palestine  and  Syria,  and  on  the  north 
by  Asia  Minor,  these  roughly  forming  the  three 
sides  of  a  square.  The  conquests  of  the  great 
warrior-Pharaoh  Thutmosis  III  had  carried  the 
Egyptian  power  as  far  as  the  north-east  comers 
of  this  formation — that  is  to  say,  to  the  point 
where  Syria  meets  Asia  Minor.  The  island  of 
Cyprus  is  in  shape  not  unlike  a  hand  with  index 
finger  extended ;  and  this  finger  may  be  said 
to  be  pointing  to  the  limit  of  Egyptian  conquest, 
somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Amanus 
Mountains.  The  kingdom  of  Mitanni  was  situ¬ 
ated  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  some  distance 
inland  from  these  mountains  ;  and  as  it  acted 
as  a  buffer  state  between  the  Egyptian  posses¬ 
sions  in  Syria  and  the  unconquered  lands  beyond, 
the  Pharaohs  had  taken  care  to  unite  themselves 
by  marriage,  as  we  have  seen,  with  its  rulers. 
Behind  Mitanni  to  the  north-east,  the  friendly 
kingdoms  later  known  as  Assyria  marked  the 
limits  of  the  known  world  ;  while  to  the  north 
the  hostile  lands  of  Asia  Minor  lay  in  the  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  Hittites,  a  warlike  confederacy  of 
peoples,  perhaps  the  ancestors  of  the  modern 
Armenians.  From  these  hardy  warriors  the 
greatest  danger  to  the  Egyptian  Empire  in  Syria 
was  to  be  expected ;  and  the  statesmen  of  Egypt 


THE  HITTITE  INVASION  OF  SYRIA 


199 


must  have  cast  many  an  anxious  look  towards 
those  forbidding  mountains  which  loomed  beyond 
Mitanni.  A  southern  movement  of  the  Hittites, 
indications  of  which  were  already  very  apparent, 
would  bring  them  swarming  over  and  around 
the  Amanus  Mountains,  either  along  the  eastern 
and  inland  route  through  Mitanni,  or  along  the 
western  route  beside  the  sea  and  over  the 
Lebanon,  or  again,  midway  between  these  two 
routes,  past  the  great  cities  of  Tunip,  Kadesh, 
and  others,  which  stood  to  block  the  way. 

When  Akhnaton  ascended  the  throne,  Seplel 
was  king  of  the  Hittites,  and  was  by  way  of 
being  friendly  to  Egypt.  Some  of  his  people, 
however,  crossed  the  frontiers  of  Mitanni  and 
were  repulsed  by  Dushratta,  the  king  of  that 
country.  This  caused  some  coldness  between 
Seplel  and  the  Pharaoh ;  and  although  the  former 
sent  an  embassy  to  the  City  of  the  Horizon,  the 
correspondence  between  the  two  monarchs  present¬ 
ly  ceased.  The  young  idealist  of  Egypt  seems  to 
have  held  warfare  in  horror  ;  and  the  Hittites 
were  so  essentially  a  fighting  race  that  Akhnaton 
could  have  had  no  friendly  feelings  towards  them. 
Soon  we  find  that  these  Hittites,  unable  to  over¬ 
flow  into  the  land  of  Mitanni,  have  moved  along 
the  eastern  route  and  have  seized  the  land  of 
Amki,  which  lay  on  the  sea-coast  between  the 
Amanus  Mountains  and  the  Lebanon.  This 


200 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


movement  might  have  been  stopped  by  Aziru, 
an  Amorite  prince  who  ruled  the  territory  be¬ 
tween  Amki  and  Mitanni,  and  whose  duty,  as 
an  Egyptian  vassal,  was  to  check  the  southern 
incursions  of  the  Hittites.  But  Aziru,  like  his 
father  Abdashirta  before  him,  was  a  man  as 
ambitious  as  he  was  faithless,  and  his  dealings 
both  with  the  Hittites  and  with  the  Egyptians 
during  the  following  years  were  unscrupulous 
in  the  extreme.  It  was  his  policy  to  play  the 
one  nation  against  the  other,  and  to  extend 
the  scope  of  his  own  power  at  the  expense  of 
both. 

2.  AKHNATON’S  CONSCIENTIOUS  OBJECTIONS 

TO  WARFARE 

Akhnaton’s  policy  in  Syria,  when  considered 
from  the  point  of  view  of  an  ordinary  man,  was 
of  the  weakest.  Ideals  cannot  govern  an  empire 
wron  by  the  sword  ;  and  those  who  would  apply 
the  doctrine  of  “  peace  and  goodwill  ”  to  turbu¬ 
lent  subject  races  endanger  the  very  principles 
which  they  would  teach.  While  the  young 
Pharaoh  was  chanting  his  psalms  to  the  Aton 
in  his  growing  capital,  the  princes  of  Syria  were 
singing  the  revolutionary  songs  which  presently 
were  to  ring  in  the  ears  of  the  isolated  Egyptian 
garrisons.  Little  did  they  care  for  that  tender 
Father  of  Mankind  to  whom  Akhnaton’s  thin 


CONSCIENTIOUS  OBJECTIONS  TO  WARFARE  201 

finger  so  earnestly  pointed.  They  knew  nothing 
of  monotheism  ;  they  found  no  satisfaction  in 
One  who  was  the  gentle  ruler  of  all  men  with¬ 
out  distinction  of  race.  A  true  god  to  them 
was  a  vanquisher  of  other  gods,  a  valiant  leader 
in  battle,  a  relentless  avenger  of  insult.  The 
furious  Baal,  the  bloodthirsty  Tishub,  the  ter¬ 
rible  Ishtar — these  were  the  deities  that  a  man 
could  love.  How  they  scorned  that  God  of 
Peace  who  was  called  the  Only  One  !  How  they 
laughed  at  the  young  Pharaoh  who  had  set 
aside  the  sword  for  the  psalter,  who  hoped  to 
rule  his  restless  dominions  by  love  alone  ! 

Love !  One  stands  amazed  at  the  reckless 
idealism,  the  beautiful  folly,  of  this  Pharaoh 
who,  in  an  age  of  turbulence,  preached  a  religion 
of  peace  to  seething  Syria.  Three  thousand 
years  later  mankind  is  still  blindly  striving  after 
these  same  ideals  in  vain.  Nowadays  one  is 
familiar  with  the  doctrine :  a  greater  than 
Akhnaton  has  preached  it,  and  has  died  for  it. 
To-day  God  is  known  to  us,  and  the  peace  of 
God  is  a  thing  hoped  for  ;  but  at  that  far-off 
period,  thirteen  hundred  years  before  the  birth 
of  Christ,  two  or  three  centuries  before  the  age 
of  David  and  Solomon,  and  many  a  year  before 
the  preaching  of  Moses,  one  is  utterly  surprised 
to  behold  the  true  light  shining  forth  for  a  short 
moment  like  the  sun  through  a  rift  in  the  clouds, 


202 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


and  one  knows  that  it  has  come  too  soon.  Man¬ 
kind,  even  now  not  ready,  was  then  most  wholly 
unprepared,  and  the  price  which  Egypt  paid 
for  the  ideals  of  her  Pharaoh  was  no  less  than 
the  complete  loss  of  her  dominions. 

Akhnaton  believed  in  God,  and  to  him  that 
belief  meant  a  practical  abhorrence  of  war. 
Marshalling  the  material  available  for  the  study 
of  this  period  of  history,  one  can  interpret  the 
events  in  Syria  in  only  one  way  :  Akhnaton 
definitely  refused  to  do  battle,  believing  that 
a  resort  to  arms  was  an  offence  to  God.  Whether 
fortune  or  misfortune,  gain  or  loss,  was  to  be 
his  lot,  he  would  hold  to  his  principles,  and  would 
not  return  to  the  old  gods  of  battle. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  at  this  time 
the  empire  was  the  personal  property  of  the 
Pharaoh,  as  every  kingdom  was  of  its  king. 
Nobody  ever  considered  a  possession  as  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  nation  which  had  laid  hands  upon  it, 
but  only  to  that  nation’s  king.  It  mattered 
very  little  to  the  Syrian  peoples  whether  their 
owner  was  an  Egyptian  or  a  Syrian,  though 
perhaps  they  preferred  to  be  possessed  by  one 
of  their  own  race.  Akhnaton  was  thus  doing 
his  will  with  his  own  property.  He  was  refusing 
to  fight  for  his  own  possessions  ;  he  was  acting 
literally  upon  the  Christian  principle  of  giving 
the  cloak  to  him  who  had  stolen  the  coat. 


THE  FAITHLESSNESS  OF  AZIRU 


203 


Patriotism  was  a  sentiment  unknown  to  the 
world  :  devotion  to  the  king's  personal  interest 
was  all  that  actuated  loyalty  in  the  subject,  and 
the  monarch  himself  had  but  his  own  interests 
to  consider.  Thus  Akhnaton  cannot  be  accused 
of  ruining  his  country  by  his  refusal  to  go  to  war. 
He  was  entitled  to  do  what  he  liked  with  his 
own  personal  property,  and  if  he  sacrificed  his 
possessions  to  his  principles,  the  sacrifice  was 
made  upon  God’s  high  altar,  and  the  loss  would 
be  felt  by  him  alone.  Such  a  loss,  it  is  true, 
would  probably  break  his  heart  ;  for  he  loved 
Syria  dearly,  and  he  had  had  such  great  hopes 
of  uniting  the  empire  by  the  tie  of  a  common 
religion.  But  for  good  or  ill,  he  was  determined 
to  stand  aloof  from  the  struggles  upon  which 
Syria  was  now  entering. 

3.  THE  FAITHLESSNESS  OF  AZIRU 

While  Aziru,  the  Amorite,  schemed  on  the 
borders  of  Asia  Minor,  a  Syrian  prince  named 
Itakama  suddenly  set  up  an  independent  king¬ 
dom  at  Kadesh  and  joined  hands  with  the 
Hittites,  thus  cutting  off  the  loyal  city  of  Tunip. 
the  friendly  kingdom  of  Mitanni,  and  the  terri¬ 
tory  of  the  faithless  Aziru,  from  direct  inter¬ 
course  with  the  Lebanon  and  Egypt’s  remaining 
possessions  in  Palestine  and  Syria.  Three  loyal 
vassal  kings,  perhaps  assisted  by  Dushratta  of 


204 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


Mitanni,  attacked  the  rebels,  but  were  repulsed 
by  Itakama  and  his  Hittite  allies. 

Aziru  at  once  turned  the  situation  to  his  own 
advantage.  Hemmed  in  between  the  Hittites 
on  the  north  and  this  new  kingdom  of  Kadesh 
on  the  south,  he  collected  his  armies  and 
marched  down  the  Orontes  to  the  Mediterran¬ 
ean  coast,  capturing  the  cities  near  the  mouth 
of  that  river  and  adding  them  to  his  possessions. 
Should  the  Hittites  ask  him  to  give  an  account 
of  these  proceedings,  he  could  reply  that  he  was, 
as  it  were,  the  advance-guard  of  the  Hittite 
invasion  of  Syria,  and  was  preparing  the  road 
for  them.  Should  Itakama  question  him,  he 
could  say  that  he  was,  with  friendly  hands, 
linking  the  Hittites  with  Kadesh.  And  should 
Akhnaton  call  upon  him  for  an  explanation,  he 
could  answer  that  he  was  securing  the  land  for 
the  Egyptians  against  the  Hittite  advance. 

No  doubt  Aziru  preferred  to  keep  his  peace 
with  the  Hittites  the  most  secure,  for  it  was 
obvious  that  they  were  the  rising  people  ;  but 
at  the  same  time  he  did  not  yet  dare  to  show 
any  hostility  to  Egypt,  whose  armies  might  at 
any  moment  be  launched  across  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean.  Unable  to  hold  a  position  of  independ¬ 
ence,  he  now  thought  it  most  prudent  to  allow 
the  northmen  to  swarm  southwards  through  his 
dominions,  from  Amki  over  and  around  the 


THE  FAITHLESSNESS  OF  AZIRU 


205 


Lebanon  to  Kadesh,  where  their  ally  Itakama 
dwelt.  In  return  for  this  assistance  he  seems  to 
have  been  allowed  a  free  hand  in  the  forwarding 
of  his  own  interests,  and  we  now  find  him  turning 
his  attention  to  the  sea-coast  cities  of  Simyra 
and  Byblos,  which  nestled  at  the  western  foot 
of  the  Lebanon.  Here,  however,  he  received  a 
check,  and  failed  to  obtain  a  footing.  He  there¬ 
fore  marched  eastwards  to  the  city  of  Niy,  which 
he  captured,  slaying  its  king  ;  and  both  to  the 
Hittites  and  to  the  Egyptians  he  seems  to  have 
pretended  that  he  had  taken  this  step  in  their 
interests. 

On  hearing  of  the  fall  of  this  city  the  governor 
of  Tunip  wrote  a  pathetic  appeal  to  Akhnaton,  * 
asking  for  help  ;  for  he  was  now  quite  isolated, 
and  he  knew  that  Aziru  was  a  free-lance  who 
cared  not  a  jot  for  any  but  his  own  welfare. 

"  Tq  the  King  of  Egypt,  my  lord,”  runs  the  letter. 

“  The  inhabitants  of  Tunip,  thy  servant.  May  it 
be  well  with  thee,  and  at  the  feet  of  our  lord  we  fall. 
My  lord,  Tunip,  thy  servant,  speaks,  saying  :  Who 
formerly  could  have  plundered  Tunip  without  being 
plundered  by  Thutmosis  III.  ?  The  gods  ...  of 
the  King  of  Egypt,  my  lord,  dwell  in  Tunip.  May 
our  lord  ask  his  old  men  [if  it  be  not  so.]  Now, 
however,  we  belong  no  more  to  our  lord,  the  King 
of  Egypt.  ...  If  his  soldiers  and  chariots  come  too 
late,  Aziru  will  make  us  like  the  city  of  Niy.  If, 
however,  we  have  to  mourn,  then  the  King  of  Egypt 
will  mourn  over  these  things  which  Aziru  has  done, 


206 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN. 


for  he  will  turn  his  hand  against  our  lord.  And  when 
Aziru  enters  Simyra  Aziru  will  do  to  us  as  he  pleases, 
in  the  territory  of  our  lord  the  King,  and  on  account 
of  these  things  our  lord  will  have  to  lament.  And 
now  Tunip,  thy  city,  weeps,  and  her  tears  are  flowing 
and  there  is  no  help  for  us.  For  twenty  years  we 
have  been  sending  to  our  lord  the  King,  the  King 
of  Egypt,  but  there  has  not  come  to  us  a  word — no, 
not  one." 

Several  points  become  apparent  from  this  letter 
One  sees  that  in  the  more  distant  cities  of  Syria 
the  significance  of  Akhnaton' s  new  religion  was 
not  understood.  The  governor  of  Tunip  refers 
to  the  old  gods  of  Egypt  worshipped  in  that 
town,  and  he  knows  not,  or  cannot  be  brought 
to  believe,  that  Akhnaton  has  become  a  mono¬ 
theist.  One  sees  that  the  memory  of  the  terrible 
Thutmosis  III  and  his  victorious  armies  was  still 
in  men's  minds,  and  was  probably  one  of  the 
main  causes  of  the  long-continued  peace  in  Syria, 
Akhnaton's  father,  Amenophis  III,  had  not  con¬ 
cerned  himself  greatly  with  regard  to  his  foreign 
dominions,  and,  as  the  people  of  Tunip  had  been 
asking  for  assistance  for  twenty  years,  it  would 
seem  that  the  danger  which  now  beset  them 
was  already  feared  before  that  Pharaoh's  death. 

How,  one  asks,  could  Akhnaton  read  such  a 
letter  as  this,  and  yet  refuse  to  send  a  relieving 
army  to  Syria  ?  Byblos  and  Simyra  were  still 
loyally  holding  out ;  and  troops  disembarked  at 


THE  FIGHTING  IN  SYRIA  BECOMES  GENERAL 


207 


these  ports  could  speedily  be  marched  inland  to 
Tunip,  could  crush  Itakama  at  Kadesh,  and 
could  frighten  Aziru  into  giving  real  assistance 
to  Dushratta  and  other  loyal  kings  in  holding 
the  Hittites  back  behind  the  Amanus  Moun¬ 
tains.  But  this  was  Akhnaton’s  testing  time ; 
and  like  that  greater  Teacher  who,  thirteen 
hundred  years  later,  was  to  preach  the  self-same 
doctrine  of  personal  sacrifice,  one  may  suppose 
that  the  Pharaoh  suffered  a  very  Agony  as  he 
realised  that  his  principles  were  leading  him  to 
the  loss  of  all  his  dearest  possessions.  His  rest¬ 
less  generals  in  Egypt,  eager  to  march  into  Syria, 
must  have  brought  every  argument  to  bear  upon 
him  ;  but  the  boy  would  not  now  turn  back. 
“  Put  up  thy  sword  into  his  place/’  he  seems 
to  have  said  ;  “  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword 
shall  perish  with  the  sword/’ 

4.  THE  FIGHTING  IN  SYRIA  BECOMES  GENERAL 

At  this  time  the  King  of  Bybios  was  one 
named  Ribaddi,  a  fine  old  soldier  who  was  loyal 
to  Egypt  in  his  every  thought  and  deed.  He 
wrote  to  Akhnaton  urging  him  to  send  troops 
to  relieve  the  garrison  of  Simyra,  upon  which 
Aziru  was  again  pressing  close  ;  for  if  Simyra 
fell,  he  knew  that  Byblos  could  not  for  long 
hold  out.  Presently  we  find  that  Zimrida,  the 
king  of  the  neighbouring  port  of  Sidon,  has 


208 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


opened  his  gates  to  Aziru,  and  has  marched  with 
him  against  Tyre.  Abimilki,  the  King  of  Tyre, 
at  once  wrote  to  Akhnaton  asking  for  assist¬ 
ance  ;  but  on  receiving  no  reply  he,  too,  appears 
to  have  thrown  in  his  lot  with  Aziru.  Ribaddi 
was  now  quite  isolated  at  Byblos ;  and  from 
the  beleaguered  city  he  wrote  to  the  Pharaoh  tell¬ 
ing  him  that  “  Simyra  is  like  a  bird  in  a  snare.** 
Akhnaton  made  no  reply  ;  and  in  a  short  time 
Ribaddi  wrote  again,  saying,  “  Simyra,  your 
fortress,  is  now  in  the  power  of  the  Khabiri.** 
These  Khabiri  were  the  Beduin  from  behind 
Palestine,  who  were  being  used  as  mercenaries 
by  Aziru,  and  who  themselves  were  making 
small  conquests  in  the  south  on  their  own  be¬ 
half.  Thus  the  southern  cities  of  Megiddo, 
Askalon,  Gezer,  and  others,  write  to  the  Pharaoh 
asking  for  aid  against  them.  Exasperated,  how¬ 
ever,  by  Akhnaton* s  inaction,  Askalon  and  Gezer, 
together  with  the  city  of  Lachish,  threw  off  the 
Egyptian  yoke  and  attacked  Jerusalem,  which 
was  still  loyal  to  Egypt,  being  held  by  an  officer 
named  Abdkhiba.  This  loyal  soldier  at  once 
sent  a  despatch  to  Akhnaton,  part  of  which  read 
as  follows  : — 

The  King's  whole  land,  which  has  begun  hostilities 
with  me,  will  be  lost.  Behold  the  territory  of  Seir, 
as  far  as  Carmel,  its  princes  are  wholly  lost ;  and 
hostility  prevails  against  me.  ...  As  long  as  ships 
were  upon  the  sea  the  strong  arm  of  the  King  occupied 


THE  FIGHTING  IN  SYRIA  BECOMES  GENERAL 


209 


Naharin  and  Kash,  but  now  the  Khabiri  are  occupying 
the  King’s  cities.  There  remains  not  one  prince  to 
my  lord,  the  King  ;  every  one  is  ruined.  .  .  .  Let 
the  King  take  care  of  his  land,  and  ...  let  him  send 
troops.  .  .  .  For  if  no  troops  come  in  this  year,  the 
whole  territory  of  my ‘lord  the  King  will  perish.  .  .  . 
If  there  are  no  troops  in  this  year,  let  the  King  send  his 
officer  to  fetch  me  and  my  brothers,  that  we  may  die 
with  our  lord,  the  King. 

To  this  letter  the  writer  added  a  postscript 
addressed  to  Akhnaton’ s  secretary,  with  whom 
he  was  evidently  acquainted.  “  Bring  these  words 
plainly  before  my  lord  the  King/’  runs  this 
pathetic  appeal.  “  The  whole  land  of  my  lord, 
the  King,  is  going  to  ruin.” 

The  letters  sent  to  Akhnaton  from  the  lew 
princes  who  remained  loyal  form  a  collection 
which  even  now  moves  the  reader.  To  Akhnaton 
they  must  have  been  so  many  sword-thrusts, 
and  one  may  picture  him  praying  passionately 
for  strength  to  set  them  aside.  Soon  it  would 
seem  that  the  secretaries  hardly  troubled  to  show 
them  to  him  ;  and  ultimately  they  were  so  effect¬ 
ually  pigeon-holed  that  they  have  only  recently 
been  discovered.  The  Pharaoh  permitted  himself 
to  answer  some  of  them,  and  seems  to  have 
asked  questions  as  to  the  state  of  affairs  ;  but 
never  does  he  offer  any  encouragement.  Lapaya, 
one  of  the  princes  of  the  south,  who  had  evi¬ 
dently  received  a  communication  from  Akhnaton 

Q 


210 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


in  which  his  fidelity  was  questioned,  .wrote  say¬ 
ing  that  if  the  Pharaoh  ordered  him  to  drive  a 
sword  of  bronze  into  his  heart  he  would  do  so. 
It  is  a  commentary  upon  the  veracity  of  the 
Oriental  that  in  subsequent  letters  this  prince  is 
stated  to  have  attacked  Megiddo,  and  ultimately 
to  have  been  slain  while  fighting  against  the 
Egyptian  loyalists. 

Addudaian,  a  king  of  some  unknown  city  of 
south  Judea,  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  a  letter 
from  Akhnaton  in  which  he  was  asked  to  remain 
loyal ;  and  he  complains,  in  reply,  of  the  loss  of 
various  possessions.  Dagantakala,  the  king  of 
another  city,  writes  imploring  the  Pharaoh  to 
rescue  him  from  the  Khabiri.  Ninur,  a  queen 
of  a  part  of  Judea,  who  calls  herself  Akhnaton’s 
handmaid,  entreats  the  Pharaoh  to  save  her, 
and  records  the  capture  of  one  of  her  cities  by 
the  Khabiri. 

And  so  the  letters  run  on,  each  telling  of  some 
disaster  to  the  Egyptian  cause,  and  each  voicing 
the  bitter  complaint  of  those  who  were  being 
sacrificed  to  the  principles  of  a  king  who  had 
grasped  the  meaning  of  civilisation  too  soon. 

5.  AZIRU  AND  RIBADDI  FIGHT  TO  A  FINISH 

Meanwhile  Ribaddi  was  holding  Byblos  vali¬ 
antly  against  Aziru’s  armies,  and  many  were  the 
despatches  which  he  sent  to  Akhnaton  asking 


A2IRU  AND  RIBADDI  FIGHT  TO  A  FINISH  211 

for  assistance  against  Aziru.  Nothing  could  have 
been  easier  than  the  despatch  of  a  few  hundred 
men  across  the  Mediterranean  to  the  beleaguered 
port,  and  the  number  which  Ribaddi  asks  for  is 
absurdly  small.  Akhnaton,  however,  would  not 
send  a  single  man,  but  instead  wrote  a  letter 
of  gentle  rebuke  to  Aziru,  telling  him  to  come  to 
the  City  of  the  Horizon  to  explain  his  conduct. 
Aziru  wrote  at  once  to  one  of  Akhnaton’s 
courtiers,  who  was  his  friend,  telling  him  to 
speak  to  the  Pharaoh  and  to  set  matters  right. 

He  explained  that  he  could  not  leave  Syria  at 
that  time,  for  he  must  remain  to  defend  Tunip 
against  the  Hittites.  The  reader,  who  has  seen 
the  letter  written  by  the  governor  of  Tunip 
asking  for  help  against  Aziru,  will  realise  the 
perfidy  of  this  Amorite,  who  was  now,  no  doubt, 
preparing  to  capture  Tunip  for  the  sake  of  its 
riches,  and,  having  done  so,  would  tell  Akhnaton 
that  he  had  entered  it  to  hold  it  against  the 
Hittites. 

Akhnaton  then  wrote  to  Aziru  insisting  that 
he  should  rebuild  the  city  of  Simyra,  which  he 
had  destroyed  ;  but  Aziru  again  replied  that  he 
was  too  busy  in  defending  Egyptian  interests 
against  the  inroads  of  the  Hittites  to  give  his 
attention  to  this  matter  for  at  least  a  year.  To 
this  Akhnaton  sent  a  mild  reply ;  but  Aziru, 
fearing  that  the  letter  might  contain  some 


212  LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 

matter  which  it  would  be  better  for  him  not  to 
hear,  contrived  to  evade  the  messenger,  and  the 
despatch  was  brought  back  to  Egypt.  He  wrote 
to  the  Pharaoh,  however,  saying  that  he  would 
see  to  it  that  the  cities  captured  by  him  should 
continue  to  pay  tribute  as  usual  to  Egypt. 

The  tribute  seems  to  have  reached  the  City 
of  the  Horizon  in  correct  manner  until  the  last 

V 

years  of  the  reign,1  though  probably  it  was  much 
less  in  quantity  than  had  been  customary.  There 
was  general  confusion  in  Syria,  as  we  have  seen  ; 
but,  as  in  the  case  of  the  struggle  between  Aziru 
and  Ribaddi  where  both  professed  their  loyalty 
to  Egypt,  so,  in  all  the  chaos,  there  was  a  make- 
believe  fidelity  to  the  Pharaoh  The  tribute  was 
thus  paid  each  year  by  a  large  number  of  cities, 
and  it  was  probably  not  till  the  seventeenth 
and  last  year  of  Akhnaton’s  reign  that  this 
pretence  of  loyalty  was  altogether  discarded. 

In  desperate  straits  at  Byblos,  Ribaddi  made 
a  perilous  journey  to  the  neighbouring  city  of 
Beyrut  in  order  to  attempt  to  collect  reinforce¬ 
ments.  No  sooner  had  he  left,  however,  than 
an  insurrection  occurred  at  Byblos,  and  Ribaddi 

1  The  reception  of  the  tribute  recorded  in  the  tomb  of  Meryra  II. 
(see  page  148),  although  dated  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  reign,  may 
represent  a  later  event,  since  six  daughters  are  shown  in  the  scene  ; 
and  it  is  not  likely  that  the  sixth  daughter  was  born  before  the 
fifteenth  year.  Perhaps  the  date  is  a  misreading  or  miswriting, 
influenced  by  that  given  in  the  tomb  of  Huya. 


AZIRU  AND  RIBADDI  FIGHT  TO  A  FINISH  213 

paid  for  his  loyalty  to  Egypt  by  losing  the 
support  of  his  own  subjects.  Presently  Beyrut 
surrendered  to  Aziru,  and  Ribaddi  was  forced 
to  fly.  After  many  an  adventure  the  stout  old 
king  managed  to  regain  control  of  Byblos,  and 
to  set  about  the  further  defence  of  the  city. 

Meanwhile  Aziru  had  paid  a  rapid  visit  to 
Egypt,  partly  to  justify  his  conduct  and  partly, 
no  doubt,  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  affairs 
on  the  Nile.  With  Oriental  cunning  he  man¬ 
aged  to  satisfy  Akhnaton  that  his  intentions 
were  not  hostile  to  Egypt,  and  so  returned  to 
the  Lebanon.  Ribaddi,  hearing  of  this,  at  once 
sent  his  son  to  the  City  of  the  Horizon  to  ex¬ 
pose  Aziru' s  perfidy  and  to  plead  for  assistance 
against  him.  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  to 
Akhnaton  a  pathetic  account  of  his  misfortunes. 
Four  members  of  his  family  had  been  taken 
prisoners ;  his  brother  was  constantly  conspir¬ 
ing  against  him  ;  old  age  and  disease  pressed 
heavily  upon  him.^  All  his  possessions  had  been 
taken  from  him,  all  his  lands  devastated  ;  he 
had  been  reduced  by  famine  and  the  privations 
of  a  long  siege  to  a  state  of  utter  destitution, 
and  he  could  not  much  longer  hold  out.  “  The 
gods  of  Byblos,"  he  writes,  “  are  angry  with  me 
and  sore  displeased ;  for  I  have  sinned,  against 
the  gods,  and  therefore  I  do  not  come  before  my 
lord  the  King."  Was  his  sin,  one  wonders,  the 


214 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


adoption  for  a  while  of  Akhnaton’ s  faith  ?  To 
this  communication  Akhnaton  seems  to  have 
made  no  reply. 

6.  AKHNATON  CONTINUES  TO  REFUSE  TO 

SEND  HELP 

The  messengers  who  arrived  at  the  City  of 
the  Horizon  of  Aton,  dusty  and  travel-stained, 
to  deliver  the  many  letters  asking  for  help, 
must  have  despaired  indeed  when  they  observed 
the  manner  in  which  the  news  was  received. 
Hateful  to  these  hardy  soldiers  of  the  empire 
were  the  fine  quays  at  which  their  galleys 
mo  ./red ;  hateful  the  fair  villas  and  shaded 
avenues  of  the  city ;  and  thrice  hateful  the 
rolling  hymns  to  the  Aton  which  came  to  them 
from  the  temple  halls  as  they  hurried  to  the 
Pharaoh’s  palace.  The  townspeople  smiled  at 
their  haste  in  this  city  of  dreams  ;  the  court 
officials  delayed  the  delivery  of  their  letters, 
scoffing  at  the  idea  of  urgency  in  the  affairs  of 
Asia ;  and  finally  these  wretched  documents, 
written — if  ever  letters  were  so  written — with 
blood  and  with  tears,  were  pigeon-holed  in  the 
city  archives  and  utterly  forgotten  save  by 
Akhnaton  himself.  Instead  of  the  brave  music 
of  the  drums  and  bugles  of  the  relieving  army 
which  these  messengers  had  hoped  to  muster, 
there  rang  in  their  maddened  ears  only  the 


AKHNATON  STILL  REFUSES  TO  SEND  HELP 


215 


ceaseless  chants  of  the  priestly  ceremonies  and 
the  pattering  love-songs  of  private  festivals. 
Newly  come  from  the  sweat  and  the  labour  of 
the  road,  their  brains  still  racked  with  the 
horror  of  war  and  yet  burning  with  the  vast 
hopes  of  empire,  they  looked  with  scorn  at  the 
luxury  of  Egypt’s  new  capital,  and  heard  with 
disgust  the  dainty  tales  of  the  flowers.  The 
lean,  sad-eyed  Pharaoh,  with  his  crooked  head 
and  his  stooping  shoulders,  would  speak  only 
of  his  God ;  and,  clad  in  simple  clothes  un¬ 
relieved  by  a  single  jewel,  there  was  nothing 
martial  in  his  appearance  to  give  them  hope. 
From  the  beleaguered  cities  which  they  had  so 
lately  left  there  came  to  them  the  bitter  cry 
for  succour  ;  and  it  was  not  possible  to  drown 
that  cry  in  words  of  peace,  nor  in  the  jangle  of 
the  systrum  or  the  warbling  of  the  pipes.  Who, 
thought  the  waiting  messengers,  could  resist 
that  piteous  call :  “  Thy  city  weeps,  and  her 

tears  are  flowing  ”  ?  Who  could  sit  idle  in  the 
City  of  the  Horizon  when  the  proud  empire,  won 
with  the  blood  of  the  noblest  soldiers  of  the 
great  Thutmosis,  was  breaking  up  before  their 
eyes  ?  What  mattered  all  the  philosophies  in 
the  world,  and  all  the  gods  in  heaven,  when 
Egypt’s  great  dominions  were  being  wrested  from 
her  ?  The  splendid  Lebanon,  the  white  kingdoms 
of  the  sea,  Askalon  and  Ashdod,  Tyre  and  Sidon, 


216 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


Simyra  and  Byblos,  the  hills  of  Jerusalem,  Kadesh 
and  the  great  Orontes,  the  fair  Jordan,  Tunip, 
Aleppo,  the  distant  Euphrates.  .  .  .  What 
counted  a  creed  against  these  ?  God  ?  The  truth  ? 
The  only  god  was  He  of  the  Battles,  who  had  led 
Egypt  into  Syria  ;  the  only  truth  the  doctrine 
of  the  sword,  which  had  held  her  there  for  so 
many  years. 

Looking  back  across  these  thirty-two  centuries, 
can  one  yet  say  whether  the  Pharaoh  was  in  the 
right,  or  whether  his  soldiers  were  the  better 
minded  ?  On  the  one  hand  there  is  culture, 
refinement,  love,  thought,  prayer,  goodwill,  and 
peace  ;  on  the  other  hand,  power,  might,  health, 
hardihood,  bravery,  and  struggle.  One  knows 
that  Akhnaton’s  theories  were  the  more  civi¬ 
lised,  the  more  ideal ;  but  is  there  not  a  pulse 
which  stirs  in  sympathy  with  those  who  were 
holding  the  citadels  of  Asia  ?  We  can  give  our 
approval  to  the  ideals  of  the  young  king,  but 
we  cannot  see  his  empire  fall  without  bitterly 
blaming  him  for  the  disaster.  Yet  in  passing 
judgment,  in  calling  the  boy  to  account  for  the 
loss  of  Syria,  there  is  the  consciousness  that 
above  our  tribunal  sits  a  judge  to  whom  war 
must  assuredly  be  abhorrent,  and  in  whose 
eyes  the  struggle  of  the  nations  must  utterly 
lack  its  drama.  Thus,  even  now,  Akhnaton 
eludes  our  criticism,  and  but  raises  once  more 


Head  of  a  Statuette — perhaps  of  Queen  Merytaton — now  in  Berlin 

{See  page  223) 


akhnaton’s  health  gives  way  217 

that  eternal  question  which  as  yet  has  no 
answer. 

7.  AKHNATON’S  HEALTH  GIVES  WAY 

Perhaps  in  order  to  create  an  impression,  he 
now  celebrated  his  jubilee  festival,  as  is  indicated 
on  an  inscribed  fragment  of  stone,  now  at  Oxford. 
The  jubilee  ceremony  was  usually  held  thirty 
years  after  a  king  had  been  nominated  to  the 
throne  ;  and  Akhnaton,  being  now  thirty  years 
of  age,  and  regarding  his  nomination  as  dating 
from  the  hour  of  his  birth,  did  not  longer  delay 
the  festivities. 

It  is  possible  that  the  Pharaoh  now  realised 
his  position,  and  one  may  suppose  that  he  tried 
as  best  he  could  to  pacify  the  turbulent  princes 
by  all  the  arts  of  diplomacy.  It  does  not  seem, 
however,  that  he  yet  fully  appreciated  the  catas¬ 
trophe  which  was  now  almost  inevitable — the 
complete  loss  of  Syria.  He  could  not  bring 
himself  to  believe  that  the  princes  of  that 
country  would  play  him  false ;  and  he  could 
have  had  no  idea  that  he  was  being  so  entirely 
fooled  by  such  men  as  Aziru.  But  when  at 
last  the  tribute  ceased  to  come  in  regularly,  then, 
too  late,  he  knew  that  disaster  was  upon  him. 

The  thoughts  which  now  must  have  held  sway 
in  his  mind  could  not  have  failed  to  carry  him 
down  the  dark  steps  of  depression  to  the  very 


218 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


pit  of  despair,  and  one  may  picture  him  daily 
cast  prone  upon  the  floor  before  the  high  altar 
of  the  Aton,  and  nightly  tossing  sleepless  upon 
his  royal  bed.  It  seems  that  he  had  placed 
great  reliance  upon  a  certain  official,  named 
Bikhuru,  who  was  acting  as  Egyptian  commis¬ 
sioner  in  Palestine ;  but  now  it  is  probable 
that  he  received  news  of  that  unfortunate  per¬ 
sonage’s  flight,  and  later  of  his  murder.1  Then 
came  the  report  that  Byblos  had  fallen,  and  one 
is  led  to  suppose  that  that  truly  noble  soldier 
Ribaddi  did  not  survive  the  fall  of  the  city 
which  he  had  so  tenaciously  held.  The  news 
of  the  surrender  of  other  important  Egyptian 
strongholds  followed  rapidly,  and  still  there 
came  the  pathetic  appeal  for  help  from  the 
minor  posts  which  yet  held  out. 

Akhnaton  was  now  just  thirty  years  of  age, 
and  already  the  cares  of  the  whole  world  seemed 
to  rest  upon  his  shoulders.  Lean  and  lank  was 
his  body ;  his  face  was  thin  and  lined  with 
worry  ;  and  in  his  eye  one  might,  perhaps,  have 
seen  that  hunted  look  which  comes  to  those 
who  are  dogged  by  disaster.  It  is  probable  that 
he  now  suffered  acutely  from  the  distressing 
malady  to  which  he  was  a  victim,  and  there 
must  have  been  times  when  he  felt  himself 
upon  the  verge  of  madness.  His  misshapen 

*  Breasted  :  History,  p.  388. 


akhnaton’s  health  gives  way  219 

skull  came  nigh  to  bursting  with  the  full  thoughts 
of  his  aching  brain,  and  the  sad  knowledge  that 
he  had  failed  must  have  pressed  upon  his  mind 
like  some  unrelenting  finger.  The  invocations 
to  the  Aton  which  rang  in  his  head  made  con¬ 
fusion  with  the  cry  of  Syria.  Now  he  listened 
to  the  voices  of  his  choirs  lauding  the  sweetness 
of  life  ;  and  now,  breaking  in  upon  the  chant, 
did  he  not  hear  the  solemn  voices  of  his  fathers 
calling  to  him  from  the  Hills  of  the  West  to  give 
account  of  his  stewardship  ?  Could  he  then 
find  solace  in  trees  and  in  flowers  ?  Could  he  cry 
“  Peace' ’  when  there  was  red  tumult  in  his  brain  ? 

His  moods  at  this  time  must  have  given  cause 
for  the  greatest  alarm,  and  his  behaviour  was, 
no  doubt,  sufficiently  erratic  to  render  even 
those  nobles  who  had  so  blindly  followed  him 
mistrustful  of  their  leader.  In  a  frenzy  of  zeal 
in  the  adoration  of  the  Aton,  Akhnaton  now 
gave  orders  that  the  name  of  all  other  gods  should 
suffer  the  same  fate  as  that  of  Amon,  and  should 
be  erased  from  every  inscription  throughout 
the  land.  This  order  was  never  fully  carried 
out ;  but  one  may  still  see  in  the  temples  of 
Kamak,  Medinet  Habu,  and  elsewhere,  and  upon 
many  lesser  monuments,  the  chisel  marks  which 
have  partially  blurred  out  the  names  of  Ptah, 
Hathor,  and  other  deities,  and  have  obliterated 
the  offending  word  “  gods." 


220 


AST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


The  consternation  which  this  action  must  have 
caused  was  almost  sufficient  to  bring  about  a 
revolution  in  the  provinces,  where  the  old  gods 
were  still  dearly  loved  by  the  people.  The 
erasing  of  the  name  of  Amon  had  been,  after 
all,  a  direct  war  upon  a  certain  priesthood,  and 
did  not  very  materially  affect  any  other  localities 
than  that  of  Thebes.  But  the  suppression  of  the 
numerous  priesthoods  of  the  many  deities  who 
held  sway  throughout  Egypt  threw  into  disorder 
the  whole  country,  and  struck  at  the  heart  not 
of  one  but  of  a  hundred  cities.  Was  the  kindly 
old  artificer  Ptah,  with  his  hammer  and  his 
chisel,  to  be  tumbled  into  empty  space  ?  Was 
the  beautiful,  the  gracious  Hathor — the  Venus 
of  the  Nile — to  be  thrown  down  from  her  celestial 
seat  ?  Was  it  possible  to  banish  Khnum,  the 
goat-headed  potter  who  lived  in  the  caves  of  the 
Cataract,  from  the  life  of  the  city  of  Elephantine  ; 
the  mysterious  jackal  Wepwat  from  the  hearts 
of  the  men  of  Abydos ;  or  the  ancient  crocodile 
Sebek  from  the  ships  and  the  fields  of  Ombos  ? 
Every  town  had  its  local  god,  and  every  god 
its  priesthood ;  and  surely  the  Pharaoh  was 
mad  who  attempted  to  make  war  upon  these 
legions  of  heaven.  This  Aton,  whom  the  king 
called  upon  them  to  worship,  was  so  remote, 
so  infinitely  above  their  heads.  Aton  did  not  sit 
with  them  at  their  hearth-side  to  watch  the 


akhnaton’s  health  gives  way  221 

kettle  boil ;  Aton  did  not  play  a  sweet-toned 
flute  amongst  the  reeds  of  the  river ;  Aton  did 
not  bring  a  fairy  gift  to  the  new-born  babe. 
Where  was  the  sacred  tree  in  whose  branches 
one  might  hope  to  see  him  seated  ? — where 
was  the  eddy  of  the  Nile  in  which  he  loved  to 
bathe  ? — and  where  was  the  rock  at  whose  foot 
one  might  place,  as  a  fond  offering,  a  bowl  of 
milk  ?  The  people  loved  their  old  gods,  whose 
simple  ways,  kind  hearts,  and  quick  tempers 
made  them  understandable  to  mortal  minds. 
But  a  god  who  reigned  alone  in  solitary  isolation, 
who,  more  remote  even  than  the  Jehovah  of  the 
Hebrews,  rode  not  upon  the  clouds  nor  moved 
upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  was  hardly  a  deity 
to  whom  they  could  open  their  hearts.  True, 
the  sunrise  and  the  sunset  were  the  visible  signs 
of  the  godhead ;  but  let  the  reader  ask  any 
modern  Egyptian  peasant  whether  there  is  aught 
to  stir  the  pulses  in  these  two  great  phenomena, 
and  he  will  realise  that  the  glory  of  the  skies 
could  not  have  appealed  particularly  to  the  lesser 
subjects  of  Akhnaton,  who,  moreover,  were  not 
permitted  to  bow  the  knee  to  the  flaming  orb 
itself.  When  the  Christian  religion  took  hold  of 
these  peasants,  and  presented  for  their  acceptance 
the  same  idea  of  a  remote  though  loving  and 
considerate  God,  it  was  only  by  the  elevation  of 
saints  and  devils,  angels  and  powers  of  darkness. 


222 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


almost  to  the  rank  of  demigods,  that  the 
faith  prospered.  But  Akhnaton  allowed  no  such 
tampering  with  the  primary  doctrine,  and  St. 
George  and  all  the  saints  would  have  suffered 
the  erasure  of  their  very  names. 

8.  AKHNATON’S  LAST  DAYS  AND  DEATH 

The  troubles  which  Akhnaton  by  such  actions 
gathered  around  himself,  while  disturbing  to  his 
adherents,  must  have  given  some  degree  of 
pleasure  to  those  nobles  who  saw  in  the  king’s 
downfall  the  only  hope  of  Egypt.  Horemheb, 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  inactive  armies, 
could  now  begin  to  prepare  himself  against  the 
time  when  he  should  lead  a  force  into  Syria 
to  restore  Egyptian  prestige.  Tutankhaton, 
betrothed  to  Akhnaton’s  third  daughter,  could 
dream  of  the  days  when  he  would  make  himself 
Pharaoh,  and  carry  the  court  back  to  glorious 
Thebes.  Even  Meryra,  the  High  Priest  of  Aton, 
seems  to  have  allowed  his  thoughts  to  drift 
away  from  the  City  of  the  Horizon  wherein  the 
sun  of  Egypt’s  glory  had  set,  for  it  does  not 
seem  that  he  ever  made  use  of  the  tomb  there 
prepared  for  him.  These  last  stages  of  Akhnaton’s 
life  must  thus  have  been  embittered  by  a  doubt 
of  the  sincerity  of  his  closest  friends,  and  by  the 
knowledge  that,  in  spite  of  all  their  protestations. 


akhnaton’ s  last  days  and  death  223 

he  had  failed  to  plant  “  the  truth  "  in  their  hearts. 

The  queen  had  borne  him  no  son  to  succeed 
to  the  throne,  and  there  appeared  to  be  nobody 
to  whom  he  could  impart  what  he  felt  to  be 
his  last  instructions.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  he  was  still  greatly  loved  by  those  who 
surrounded  his  person,  but  there  were  few  who 
hoped  that  his  religion,  so  disastrous  to  Egypt, 
would  survive  him.  In  this  extremity  Akhnaton 
turned  to  a  certain  noble,  probably  not  of  royal 
blood,  whose  name  seems  to  have  been  Smenkh- 
kara,  though  some  have  read  it  Saakara.1  Nothing 
is  known  regarding  his  previous  career,  but  one 
may  suppose  that  he  appeared  to  Akhnaton  to 
be  the  least  unreliable  of  his  followers.  To  him 
the  king  imparted  his  instructions,  revealing  all 
that  words  could  draw  from  his  teeming  brain. 
The  little  Princess  Merytaton,  now  but  twelve 
years  of  age,  was  called  from  her  games,  and 
with  pomp  and  ceremony  was  married  to  this 
Smenkhk&ra,  thus  making  him  the  legitimate 
heir  to  the  throne,  Merytaton  being  the  eldest 
daughter  and  sole  heiress  of  the  Pharaoh. 

There  is  a  little  portrait  head  of  a  queen  now 
in  Berlin,  which  was  found  in  the  Fayoum  and 
which  perhaps  represents  Merytaton,  since  it 
is  quite  unlike  the  known  heads  of  Queens  Tiy 

*  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  second  sign  is  menkh  or  aa,  they  being 
somewhat  alike. 


224 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


and  Nefertiti,  and  yet,  by  the  style  of  the  art, 
evidently  belongs  to  the  reign  of  Akhnaton. 

Feeling  that  his  days  were  numbered,  Akh¬ 
naton  then  associated  Smenkhkara  upon  the 
throne  with  him  as  co-ruler,  and  was  thus  able 
to  familiarise  the  people  with  their  future  lord. 
In  later  years,  after  Akhnaton's  death,  Smenkh¬ 
kara  was  wont  to  write  after  his  name  the  words 
“  beloved  of  Akhnaton,”  as  though  to  indicate 
that  his  claim  to  the  throne  was  due  to  Akhnaton' s 
affection  for  him,  as  well  as  to  the  rights  derived 
from  his  wife. 

But  what  mattered  the  securing  of  the  suc¬ 
cession  to  the  throne  when  that  throne  had 
been  shaken  to  its  very  foundations,  and  now 
seemed  to  be  upon  the  verge  of  utter  wreck  ? 
Akhnaton  could  no  longer  stave  off  the  impend¬ 
ing  crash,  and  from  all  sides  there  gathered  the 
forces  which  were  to  overwhelm  him.  His 
government  was  chaotic.  The  plotting  and 
scheming  of  the  priests  of  Amon  showed  signs 
of  coming  to  a  successful  issue.  The  anger  of 
the  priesthoods  of  the  other  gods  of  Egypt  hung 
over  the  palace  like  some  menacing  stormcloud. 
The  soldiers,  eager  to  march  upon  Syria  as  in 
the  days  of  the  great  Thutmosis  III,  chafed  at 
their  enforced  idleness,  and  watched  with  in¬ 
creasing  restlessness  the  wreck  of  the  empire. 

Now  through  the  streets  of  the  H.ty  there 


akhnaton’s  last  days  and  death  225 

passed  the  weary  messengers  of  Asia  hurrying 
to  the  palace,  no  longer  bearing  the  appeals 
of  kings  and  generals  for  support,  but  announc¬ 
ing  the  fall  of  the  last  cities  of  Syria  and  the 
slaughter  of  the  last  left  of  their  rulers.  The 
scattered  remnants  of  the  garrisons  staggered  back 
to  the  Nile  at  the  heels  of  these  messengers, 
pursued  to  the  very  frontiers  of  Egypt  by  the 
triumphant  Asiatics.  From  the  north  the  Hit- 
tites  poured  into  Syria ;  from  the  south  the 
Khabiri  swarmed  over  the  land.  As  the  cur¬ 
tain  is  rung  down  on  the  turbulent  scene,  one 
catches  a  glimpse  of  the  wily  Aziru,  his  hands 
still  stained  with  the  blood  of  Ribaddi  and  of 
many  another  loyal  prince,  snatching  at  this 
city  and  trampling  on  that.  At  last  he  has 
cast  aside  his  mask,  and  with  the  tribute  which 
had  been  promised  to  Egypt  he  now,  no  doubt, 
placates  the  ascending  Hittites,  whose  suzerainty 
alone  he  admits. 

The  tribute  having  ceased,  the  Egyptian  treas¬ 
ury  soon  stood  empty,  for  the  government  of  the 
country  was  too  confused  to  permit  of  the  proper 
gathering  of  the  taxes,  and  the  working  of  the 
gold-mines  could  not  be  organised.  Much  had 
been  expended  on  the  building  of  the  City  of 
the  Horizon,  and  now  the  king  knew  not  where 
to  turn  for  money.  In  the  space  of  a  few  years 
Egypt  had  been  reduced  from  a  world  power 


226 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  REIGN 


to  the  position  of  a  petty  state,  from  the  richest 
country  known  to  man  to  the  humiliating  con¬ 
dition  of  a  bankrupt  kingdom. 

Surely  one  may  picture  Akhnaton  now  in  his 
last  hours,  his  jaw  fallen,  his  sunken  eyes  widely 
staring,  as  the  full  realisation  of  the  utter  failure 
of  all  his  hopes  came  to  him.  He  had  sacrificed 
Syria  to  his  principles  ;  but  the  sacrifice  was  of 
no  avail,  since  his  doctrines  had  not  taken  root 
even  in  Egypt.  He  knew  now  that  the  religion 
of  the  Aton  w’ould  not  outlive  him,  that  the 
knowledge  of  the  love  of  God  was  not  yet  to 
be  made  knowrn  to  the  world.  Even  at  this 
moment  the  psalms  of  the  Aton  were  beating 
upon  his  ears,  the  hymns  to  the  God  who  had 
forsaken  him  were  drifting  into  his  palace  with 
the  scent  of  the  flowers  ;  and  the  birds  which  he 
loved  were  singing  as  merrily  in  the  luxuriant 
gardens  as  ever  they  sang  when  they  had  in¬ 
spired  a  line  in  the  king’s  great  poem.  But 
upon  him  now  there  had  fallen  the  blackness  of 
despair,  and  already  the  darkness  of  coming 
death  was  closing  around  him.  The  misery  of 
failure  must  have  ground  him  down  as  beneath 
the  very  mountains  of  the  west  themselves, 
and  the  weight  of  the  knowledge  of  all  that 
he  had  lost  could  not  be  borne  by  his  enfeebled 
frame. 

History  tells  us  only  that,  simultaneously  with 


akhnaton’s  last  days  and  death  227 

the  fall  of  his  empire,  Akhnaton  died  ;  and  the 
doctors  who  have  examined  his  body  report  that 
death  may  well  have  been  due  to  some  form 
of  stroke  or  fit.  But  in  the  imagination  there 
seems  to  ring  across  the  years  a  cry  of  complete 
despair,  and  one  can  picture  the  emaciated  figure 
of  this  “  beautiful  child  of  the  Aton  ”  fall  forward 
upon  the  painted  palaee-fioor  and  lie  still  amidst 
the  red  poppies  and  the  dainty  butterflies  there 
depicted. 


228 


VIII 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF 

AKHNATON 

"  Thus  disappeared  the  most  remarkable  figure  in  early  Oriental 
history.  .  .  .  There  died  with  him  such  a  spirit  as  the  world  had  never 
seen  before.” — Breasted  :  "  History  of  Egypt.” 


i.  THE  BURIAL  OF  AKHNATON 

The  body  of  Akhnaton  was  embalmed  in  the 
city  which  he  had  founded ;  and  while  these 
mortal  parts  of  the  great  idealist  were  under¬ 
going  the  lengthy  process  of  mummification,  the 
new  Pharaoh  Smenkhkara  made  a  feeble  attempt 
to  retain  the  spirit  of  his  predecessor  in  the  new 
rigime.  Practically  nothing  is  known  of  his 
brief  reign,  but  it  is  apparent  from  subsequent 
events  that  he  entirely  failed  to  carry  on  the 
work  of  Akhnaton,  and  the  period  of  his 
sovereignty  is  marked  by  a  general  tendency  to 
abandon  the  religion  of  the  Aton.  Smenkhkara 
had  dated  the  first  year  of  his  reign  from  the 
day  of  his  accession  as  co-ruler  with  Akhnaton, 
and  thus  it  is  that  there  are  no  inscriptions 


THE  BURIAL  OF  AKHNATON 


229 


found  which  record  his  first  year,  although  there 
are  many  references  to  his  second  year.  The 
main  event  must  have  occurred  some  three 
months  after  the  commencement  of  his  sole 
reign,  when  the  body  of  Akhnaton  was  carried 
in  solemn  state  through  the  streets  of  the  city 
and  across  the  desert  to  the  tomb  which  had 
been  made  for  him  in  the  distant  cliffs. 

The  mummy  had  been  wrapped,  as  was  usual, 
in  endless  strips  of  linen ;  and  amongst  these 
there  was  placed  upon  the  royal  throat  a  neck¬ 
lace  of  gold,  and  over  the  face  or  breast  an  orna¬ 
ment  cut  in  flat  gold  foil  representing  a  vulture 
with  wings  outstretched — a  Pharaonic  symbol 
of  divine  protection.  In  many  burials  of  this 
dynasty  a  vulture  such  as  this  was  placed  upon 
the  mummy ;  and  representations  of  an  exactly 
similar  ornament  are  shown  in  the  tombs  of 
Sennefer,  Horemheb,  and  others  at  Thebes.  It 
is  somewhat  surprising  that  the  body  of  Akh¬ 
naton,  who  was  so  averse  to  all  old  customs, 
should  thus  have  this  royal  talisman  upon  it ; 
and  it  would  seem  that  some  of  the  strict  rules  of 
the  Aton  worshipper  had  already  been  relaxed 
by  his  successor.  Akhnaton  had  retained  but 
few  of  the  ancient  divine  symbols,  so  far  as 
one  can  tell  from  the  reliefs  and  paintings — 
for  instance,  the  urseus  or  cobra,  the  sphinx,  and 
the  hawk,  which  were  often  used  as  ornaments. 


230 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


But  one  maj  ask  whether  the  vulture  had 
really  been  dispensed  with  by  him.  It  is  true 
that  he  banned  the  vulture-hieroglyph  in  the 
inscriptions,  as  we  have  already  seen  on  the 
outer  coffin  of  Queen  Tiy  but  his  reason  for 
so  doing  was  that  by  such  a  hieroglyph  the 
name  of  the  goddess  Mut  was  called  to  mind, 
and  that  goddess,  being  the  consort  of  Amon, 
was  not  to  be  tolerated.  The  vulture  which 
was  laid  upon  the  mummy,  however,  had  noth¬ 
ing  to  do  with  Mut,  nor  had  it  any  likeness  to 
the  hieroglyph.  It  was  originally  a  representa¬ 
tion  of  the  presiding  genius  of  Upper  Egypt, 
and  corresponded  to  the  urseus,  which  primarily 
represented  the  power  of  Lower  Egypt.  It  is 
true,  again,  that  it  was  the  custom  for  the 
Pharaohs  to  be  shown  in  the  sculptures  and 
paintings  with  this  vulture  hovering  in  protec¬ 
tion  over  their  heads,  and  that  Akhnaton  seems 
to  have  dispensed  with  such  a  symbol.  But 
this  was  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that  the  disk 
and  rays,  symbolic  of  Aton,  had  taken  its  place 
above  the  royal  figure.  There  is  no  reason, 
after  all,  to  suppose  that  this  form  of  vulture 
was  absolutely  banned,  since  the  uraus  and 
the  hawk  were  retained  ;3  and  though,  as  will 

i  Page  162. 

a  The  scarab,  another  symbol  from  older  times,  seems  to  have  been 
retained,  for  a  gold  heart-scarab  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  Akhnaton' s 
tomb. — Petrie  :  History  of  Egypt,  ii.  220. 


THE  BURIAL  OF  AKHNATON 


231 


presently  be  seen,  it  will  be  natural  to  think  that 
it  was  placed  on  Akhnaton’s  mummy  at  his 
successor’s  suggestion,  there  is  nothing  to  show 
that  Akhnaton  himself  did  not  desire  it  to  be 
laid  there. 

Over  the  linen  bandages  on  the  body  there 
were  placed  ribbons  of  gold  foil  encircling  the 
mummy — probably  around  the  shoulders,  the 
middle,  and  the  knees — joined  to  other  ribbons 
running  the  length  of  the  body  at  the  back 
and  front.  These  ribbons  were  inscribed  with 
Akhnaton’ s  name  and  titles,  and  thus  recorded 
for  all  time  the  identity  of  the  mummy  to  which 
they  adhered.  Money  being  found  somehow,  the 
body  was  wrapped  in  sheets  of  pure  gold,  suffici¬ 
ently  thin  to  be  flexible,  and  was  placed  in  a 
splendid  coffin,  designed  in  the  usual  form  of  a 
recumbent  figure,  and  inlaid  in  a  dazzling  manner 
with  rare  stones  and  coloured  glass,  the  face 
being  carved  in  wood  and  covered  with  stout 
gold  foil.  Down  the  front  of  this  coffin  ran 
a  simple  inscription,  the  hieroglyphs  of  which 
were  also  inlaid.  It  read :  “  The  beautiful 

Prince,  The  Chosen  One  of  Ra,  the  King  of 
Up>per  and  Lower  Egypt,  living  in  Truth,  Lord 
of  the  Two  Lands,  Akhnaton,  the  beautiful 
child  of  the  living  Aton,  whose  name  shall  live 
for  ever  and  ever/1  There  is  one  curious  feature 
about  this  inscription.  When  Akhnaton  made 


232 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


the  outer  coffin  for  his  mother,  in  or  about  the 
twelfth  year  of  his  reign,  he  was  particularly 
careful  not  to  use  the  hieroglyph  representing 
the  goddess  Maat  when  writing  the  word  maat, 
“  truth.”  But  this  sign  is  employed  upon  his 
own  coffin  ;  and  one  can  only  presume  therefore, 
that  the  coffin  was  made  some  years  before  his 
death.  The  appearance  of  the  earlier  form  of 
the  name  of  the  Aton  on  a  necklace  ornament 
and  on  a  piece  of  gold  foil  iound  with  the  body 
is  an  indication  that  these  objects  were  also 
made  in  the  middle  of  the  reign. 

Below  the  feet  of  the  coffin  a  short  prayer  was 
inscribed,  which,  as  will  presently  be  remarked, 
was  probably  composed  by  the  king  himself, 
and  in  which  he  addressed  himself  to  the  Aton. 

The  royal  mummy  was  now  carried  to  its  tomb 
and  there  deposited,  together  with  such  funeral 
furniture  and  offerings  as  were  considered  neces¬ 
sary.  The  four  alabaster  canopic  jars,  always 
conspicuous  in  an  Egyptian  burial,  were  here 
not  wanting.  The  stopper  of  each  jar  was 
exquisitely  carved  to  represent  the  head  of 
Akhnaton,  wearing  the  usual  male  wig  of  the 
period,  and  having  the  royal  cobra  upon  the 
forehead.  These  heads  seem  by  their  style  to 
date  from  early  in  the  king’s  reign  ;  and  one 
may  assume  that  they  were  made  several  years 
previous  to  his  death,  so  as  to  be  ready  whenever 


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THE  COURT  RETURNS  TO  THEBES 


233 


that  event  might  occur.  Every  Pharaoh  caused 
his  tomb  to  be  made  during  his  lifetime,  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  coffin  and 
burial  equipment  were  not  also  prepared  in 
readiness. 

2.  THE  COURT  RETURNS  TO  THEBES 

For  some  time  the  court  remained  loyal  to 
the  memory  of  Akhnaton,  and  Smenkhkara’s 
right  to  the  throne  was  recognised  as  being 
based  upon  the  two  facts  that  he  was  the  “  beloved 
of  Akhnaton  ”  and  that  he  was  the  husband  of 
Akhnaton’ s  eldest  daughter,  Mery  tat  on.  The 
recent  excavations  of  the  Egypt  Exploration 
Society  have  shown  that  in  one  of  the  small 
temples  in  the  city  the  name  of  the  now  dowager 
queen  Nefertiti  has  been  erased  here  and  there, 
and  that  of  Merytaton  substituted,  though 
Akhnaton’ s  name  has  not  been  altered.  This 
suggests  that  Smenkhkara,  recognising  the  above- 
mentioned  bases  of  his  claim  to  the  throne,  was 
now  pushing  his  wife,  Akhnaton’ s  daughter, 
into  prominence  and  was  beginning  to  ignore 
Nefertiti.  History  does  not  tell  us  what  was 
the  final  fate  of  Nefertiti,  but  since  nothing 
more  is  heard  of  her  it  is  to  be  supposed  that 
she  soon  died.  Perhaps  the  Egypt  Exploration 
Society’s  excavations  will  reveal  to  us  something 


234 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


of  her  end,  which,  it  would  seem,  must  have 
been  very  sorrowful. 

Smenkhkara  died,  or  was  deposed,  about  a 
year  after  Akhnaton’s  death.  He  was  succeeded 
by  another  noble,  Tutankhaton,1  who  obtained 
in  marriage  Akhnaton’s  second  daughter  Ankh- 
senpaaton,  a  girl  barely  twelve  years  old.  Thus 
Smenkhkara’s  wife,  Merytaton,  became  a  dowager- 
queen  at  the  age  of  thirteen  or  so,  and  hex  little 
sister  took  her  place  upon  the  throne. 

By  this  time  the  piiests  of  Amon  had  begun 
to  hold  up  their  heads  once  more,  and  to  scheme 
for  the  downfall  of  Aton  with  renewed  energy. 
Pressure  was  soon  brought  to  bear  on  Tutankh¬ 
aton,  and  he  had  not  been  upon  the  throne 
more  than  a  year  or  so  when  he  was  persuaded 
to  consider  the  abandonment  of  the  City  of 
the  Horizon  and  his  return  to  Thebes.  He  did 
not  yet  turn  entirely  from  the  religion  of  the 
Aton,  but  attempted  to  take  a  middle  course 
between  the  two  factions,  giving  full  licence 
both  to  the  worshippers  of  the  Aton  and  to 
those  of  Amon.  Horemheb,  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  idle  army,  seems  to  have  been 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  reactionary  movement. 
He  did  not  concern  himself  so  much  with  the 

1  Probably  he  is  to  be  identified  with  Tutu,  a  well-known  noble 
of  this  period — the  words  ankhaton,  “  Living  in  Aton,"  being  added 
to  make  the  name  more  majestic. 


THE  COURT  RETURNS  TO  THEBES  235 

% 

religious  aspect  of  the  question  :  there  was  as 
much  to  be  said  on  the  one  side  as  on  the  other. 
But  it  was  he  who  knocked  at  the  doors  of  the 
heart  of  Egypt  and  urged  the  nation  to  awake 
to  the  danger  in  Asia.  For  him  there  were 
no  scruples  as  to  warfare,  and  the  doctrine  of 
the  sword  found  favour  in  his  sight.  An  ex¬ 
pedition  was  fitted  out,  and  the  reigning  Pharaoh 
was  persuaded  to  lead  it.  Thus  we  read  that 
Horemheb  was  “  the  companion  of  his  Lord 
upon  the  battle-field  on  that  day  of  the  slaying 
of  the  Asiatics.”1  Akhnaton  had  dreamed  of 
the  universal  peace  which  still  is  a  far-off  wraith 
to  man-kind ;  but  Horemheb  was  a  practical 
man  in  whom  that  dream  would  have  been  but 
weakness  which  was  such  mighty  strength  in 
the  dead  King. 

The  new  Pharaoh  now  changed  his  name 
from  Tutankhaton  to  Tutankhamon,  and,  to  the 
sound  of  martial  music,  returned  to  Thebes. 

The  abandonment  of  the  City  of  the  Horizon 
appears  to  have  been  carried  out  in  haste,  and 
one  may  perhaps  suppose  that  events  so  shaped 

*  See  note  on  page  58.  This  inscription  is  found  on  the  doorpost 
of  the  tomb  of  Horemheb,  which,  by  the  greatly  increased  titles,  were 
set  up  some  time  after  the  rest  of  the  tomb  was  finished  and  thus 
probably  in  the  reign  of  Tutankhaton.  A  fragment  of  gold-leaf  has 
been  found  showing  this  king  in  his  chariot  charging  Asiatic  enemies. 
The  present  writer  found  part  of  a  shrine  of  his  in  the  desert  on  the 
road  to  the  gold  mines.  See  "Travels  in  the  Upper  Egyptian  Deserts" 
(Blackwood). 


236 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


themselves  as  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  re¬ 
actionary  party  the  power  to  demand  a  sudden 
and  instant  evacuation  of  Akhnaton’ s  city.  The 
excavations  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society 
have  revealed  the  bones  of  Akhnaton’s  dogs 
in  the  royal  kennels,  as  though  these  unfortunate 
animals  had  been  left  there  to  starve  when  the 
court  marched  away ;  and  dead  oxen  have  also 
been  found  in  the  sheds  of  the  King’s  farm, 
lying  where  they  were  abandoned.  The  city 
itself  shows  other  signs  of  having  been  suddenly 
left  to  its  fate,  and  it  was  not  long  before  tiie 
palaces  and  the  villas  became  the  home  of  the 
jackals  and  the  owls,  while  the  temples  were 
partly  pulled  down  to  provide  stone  for  other 
works. 

The  sands  of  the  desert  soon  buried  the 
ruins,  and  the  excavations  now  in  progress  are 
revealing  the  forsaken  houses  and  gardens  in 
a  marvellous  state  of  preservation. 

However  much  the  reigning  Pharaoh  differed 
in  views  from  Akhnaton,  it  would  not  have 
been  possible  to  leave  the  royal  body  lying  in 
sight  of  this  wreck  of  all  the  hopes  that  had 
been  his.  Akhnaton,  moreover,  was  Tutankh- 
amon’s  father-in-law,  and  it  was  only  through 
the  rights  of  Akhnaton’ s  daughter  that  the 
Pharaoh  held  the  throne.  His  memory  was 
still  regarded  with  reverence  by  many  of  his  late 


THE  COURT  RETURNS  TO  THEBES 


237 


followers,  and  there  could  be  no  question  of 
leaving  his  body  in  the  deserted  city.  It  was 
therefore  carried  to  Thebes  in  its  coffin,  together 
with  the  four  canopic  jars,  and  was  placed,  for 
want  of  a  proper  sepulchre,  in  the  tomb  of 
Queen  Tiy,  which  had  been  reopened  for  the 
purpose. 

Tutankhamon  showed  the  trend  of  his  policy 
by  both  restoring  the  temple  of  the  Aton  at 
Kamak  and  at  the  same  time  repairing  the 
damage  done  by  Akhnaton  to  the  works  of 
Amon.  An  inscription  from  his  reign  says  that 
he  found  the  temples  of  all  the  gods  and  god¬ 
desses  desolate  from  end  to  end  of  the  country, 
and  that  he  restored  them  and  revived  the 
worship  in  them.  The  style  of  art  which  he 
favoured  was  a  modified  form  of  Akhnaton’s 
method,  and  the  influence  of  his  movement  is 
still  apparent  in  the  new  king’s  work.  He  did 
not  reign  long  enough,  however,  to  display 
much  originality,  and  after  a  few  years  he  dis¬ 
appears,  almost  unnoticed,  from  the  stage.  On 
his  death  the  question  of  inviting  Horemheb 
to  fill  the  vacant  throne  must  have  been  seriously 
considered,  but  there  was  another  candidate 
in  the  field.  This  was  Akhnaton’ s  father-in-law, 
Ay,  who  had  been  one  of  the  most  important 
nobles  in  the  group  of  courtiers  at  the  City  of 
the  Horizon,  and  who,  as  the  father  of  Queen 


238 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


Nefertiti,  was  the  only  remaining  male  member 
of  Akhnaton' s  family.  He  had  been  loudest 
in  the  praises  of  the  preacher  king  and  of  his 
doctrines,  and  he  still  retained  the  title  “  Father- 
in-law  of  the  King  ”  as  his  most  cherished 
designation. 

Religious  feeling  at  this  time  was  running 
high,  for  the  partisans  of  Aipon  and  those  of 
Aton  seem  still  to  have  been  struggling  for  the 
supremacy,  and  Ay  appeared  to  have  been  re¬ 
garded  as  the  most  likely  man  to  bridge  the 
gulf  between  the  two  factions.  A  favourite  of 
Akhnaton,  and  still  tolerant  of  all  that  was 
connected  with  the  late  movement,  he  was  not 
averse  to  the  cult  of  Amon,  and  by  conciliating 
both  parties  he  managed  to  obtain  the  throne 
for  himself.  His  power,  however,  did  not  last 
for  long,  and  as  the  priests  of  Amon  regained 
the  confidence  of  the  nation  at  the  expense  of 
the  worshippers  of  the  Aton,  so  the  prestige  of 
Ay  declined.  His  past  relationship  to  Akhnaton, 
which  even  as  king  he  carefully  recorded  within 
his  cartouche,  now  told  against  him  rather  than 
for  him,  and  about  eight  years  after  the  death 
of  Akhnaton  he  disappeared  like  his  predecessors. 

3.  THE  REIGN  OF  HOREMHEB 

There  was  now  no  question  who  should  succeed. 
All  eyes  were  turned  to  Horemheb,  who  had 


THE  REIGN  OF  HOREMHEB 


239 


already  almost  as  much  power  as  the  Pharaoh. 
The  commander-in-chief  at  once  ascended  the 
throne,  and  was  received  by  the  populace  with 
the  utmost  rejoicings.  At  this  time  there  was 
living  at  Thebes  the  Princess  Nezemmut,  the 
sister1  of  Akhnaton’s  Queen  Nefertiti,  and 
daughter  of  King  Ay.  Nezemmut  had  perhaps 
married  some  Egyptian  nobleman,  but  was  now 
a  widow,  and  had  recently  been  appointed  to 
the  post  of  “  Divine  Consort/ * — that  is  to  say, 
High  Priestess — of  Amon.  As  she  was  probably 
the  younger  sister  of  Nefertiti,  she  may  have 
been  about  six  or  eight  years  of  age  when. 
Nefertiti  was  married  to  Akhnaton.  Hence  she 
would  have  been  about  twenty-three-  or  so  at 
his  death,  and  would  now  be  somewhat  over 
thirty. 

To  this  princess,  as  daughter  and  heiress  of 
the  last  king,  Ay,  and  as  representing  the  priest¬ 
hood  of  Amon,  and  also  as  not  having  the  now 
condemning  blood  relationship  to  Akhnaton 
which  debarred  any  of  the  “  heretic's  ”  daughters 
who  may  still  have  been  alive,  Horemheb  was 
at  once  married,  for  the  purpose  of  legitimising 
his  accession.  The  religion  of  the  Aton  was 
now  fast  disappearing.  In  a  tomb  dating  from 
the  third  year  of  Horemheb’ s  reign,  the  words 
“  Ra  whose  body  is  Aton  ”  occur ;  but  this  is 

I  She  is  shown  as  Nefertiti's  sister  in  the  tomb  of  Ay  at  Tel  el  Amarna. 


240 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


the  last  mention  of  the  Aton,  and  henceforth 
Amon-Ra  is  unquestionably  supreme.  A  certain 
Paatonemheb,  who  had  been  one  of  Akhnaton's 
favourites,  was  at  about  this  time  appointed 
High  Priest  of  Ra-Horakhti  at  Heliopolis,  and 
thus  the  last  traces  of  the  religion  of  the  Aton 
were  merged  into  the  Heliopolitan  theology, 
from  which  that  religion  at  the  beginning  had 
emanated. 

The  neglected  shrines  of  the  old  gods  once 
more  echoed  with  the  chants  of  the  priests 
throughout  the  whole  land  of  Egypt.  Inscrip¬ 
tions  tell  us  that  Horemheb  “  restored  the 
temples  from  the  pools  of  the  Delta  marshes  to 
Nubia.  He  fashioned  a  hundred  images  .  .  . 
with  all  splendid  and  costly  stones.  He  estab¬ 
lished  for  them  daily  offerings  every  day.  All 
the  vessels  of  their  temples  were  wrought  of 
silver  and  gold.  He  equipped  them  with  priests 
and  with  ritual  priests,  and  with  the  choicest  of 
the  army.  He  transferred  to  them  lands  and 
cattle,  supplied  with  all  necessary  equipment.” 
By  these  gifts  to  the  neglected  gods  Horemheb 
was  striving  to  bring  Egypt  back  to  its  natural 
condition ;  and  with  a  strong  hand  he  was 
guiding  the  country  from  chaos  to  order,  from 
fantastic  Utopia  to  the  solid  old  Egypt  of  the 
past.  He  was,  in  fact,  the  very  apostle  of  the 
Normal. 


THE  PERSECUTION  OF  AKHNATON’S  MEMORY  241 

He  led  his  armies  into  the  Sudan,  and  returned 
with  a  procession  of  captive  chieftains  roped 
before  him.  He  had  none  of  Akhnaton’s  qualms 
regarding  human  suffering,  and  these  unfortunate 
prisoners  are  seen  to  have  their  arms  bound  in 
the  most  cruel  manner.  Finding  the  country 
to  be  lawless  he  drafted  a  number  of  stern  laws, 
and  with  sound  justice  administered  his  kingdom. 
Knowing  that  Syria  could  not  long  remain  quiet, 
he  organised  the  Egyptian  troops,  and  so  pre¬ 
pared  them  that,  but  a  few  years  after  his  death, 
the  soldiers  of  the  reigning  Pharaoh  were  swarm¬ 
ing  once  more  over  the  lands  which  Akhnaton 
had  lost. 

4.  THE  PERSECUTION  OF  AKHNATON’S  MEMORY 

The  priests  of  Amon-Ra  had  now  begun  openly 
to  denounce  Akhnaton  as  a  villian  and  a  heretic, 
and  as  they  restored  the  name  of  their  god 
where  it  had  been  erased,  so  they  hammered 
out  the  name  and  figure  of  Akhnaton  wherever 
they  saw  it.  Presently  they  pulled  down  the 
Aton  temple  at  Kamak,  and  used  the  blocks 
of  stone  in  the  building  of  a  pylon  for  Amon- 
Ra.  Soon  it  was  felt  that  Akhnaton’ s  body 
could  no  longer  lie  in  state,  together  with  that 
of  Queen  Tiy,  in  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs  of 
the  Kings.  The  sepulchre  was  therefore  opened 


242 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


once  more  and  the  name  “  Akhnaton  ”  was  every¬ 
where  erased  from  the  inscriptions,  as  was  his 
figure  from  the  scenes  upon  the  shrine  of  Queen 
Tiy.  The  mummy  was  lifted  from  its  coffin  and 
the  royal  name  was  cut  out  of  the  gold  ribbons 
which  passed  round  it,  both  at  the  back  and 
the  front.  It  was  then  replaced  in  the  coffin, 
and  from  this  the  name  was  also  erased. 

The  question  may  be  asked  why  it  was  that 
the  body  was  not  torn  to  pieces  and  scattered 
to  the  four  winds,  since  the  king  was  now  so 
fiercely  hated.  The  Egyptians,  however,  enter¬ 
tained  a  peculiar  reverence  for  the  bodies  of 
their  dead,  and  it  would  have  been  a  sacrilege 
to  destroy  the  mummy  even  of  this  heretic. 
No  thought  could  be  entertained  of  breaking  up 
the  body  upon  which  the  divine  touch  of  king- 
ship  had  fallen  :  that  would  have  been  against 
all  the  sentiments  which  we  know  the  Egyptians 
to  have  held.  The  cutting  out  of  the  name 
of  the  mummy  wras  sufficient  punishment :  for 
thereby  the  soul  of  the  king  was  debarred  from 
all  the  benefits  of  the  earthly  prayers  of  his 
descendants,  and  became  a  nameless  outcast, 
wandering  unrecognised  and  unpitied  through 
the  vast  underworld.  It  was  the  name  “  Akh¬ 
naton  ”  which  was  hated  so  fiercely  ;  and  one 
may  perhaps  suppose  that  the  priests  would  have 
been  willing  to  substitute  the  king's  earlier 


THE  PERSECUTION  OF  AKHNATON'S  MEMORY  243 

name,  Amenophis,  upon  the  mummy  had  they 
been  pressed  to  do  so.  His  name  and  figure  as 
Amenophis  IV  is  not  damaged  upon  the  monu¬ 
ments  ;  but  only  the  representations  of  him 
after  the  adoption  of  the  name  Akhnaton  have 
been  attacked. 

The  tomb,  polluted  by  the  presence  of  the 
heretic,  was  no  longer  fit  for  Tiy  to  rest  in  ;  and 
the  body  of  the  queen  was  therefore  carried  else¬ 
where,  perhaps  to  the  sepulchre  of  her  husband, 
Amenophis  III.  The  shrine,  or  outer  coffin,  in 
which  her  mummy  had  lain  was  pulled  to  pieces, 
and  an  attempt  was  made  to  cany  it  out  of 
the  tomb  to  its  owner's  new  resting-place,  but 
this  arduous  task  was  presently  abandoned,  and 
one  portion  of  the  shrine  was  left  in  the  passage, 
while  the  rest  remained  in  sections  in  the  burial- 
chamber.  Some  of  the  queen's  toilet  utensils 
which  had  been  buried  with  her  were  also  left, 
probably  by  mistake.  The  body  of  Akhnaton, 
his  name,  taken  from  him,  was  now  the  sole 
occupant  of  the  tomb.  The  coffin  in  which  it 
lay  rested  upon  a  four-legged  bier  some  two 
feet  or  so  from  the  ground,  and  in  a  niche  in 
the  wall  above  it  stood  the  four  canopic  jars. 
And  thus,  with  a  curse,  the  priests  left  their 
great  enemy.  One  of  them,  before  he  left  the 
dark  chamber  of  death,  ripped  off  the  gold  foil 
from  the  face  of  the  effigy  on  the  lid  of  the  coffin, 


244  THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 

and  carried  it  away,  concealed,  no  doubt,  in 
his  robes.  The  entrance  of  the  tomb  was  blocked 
with  stones,  and  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the 
necropolis ;  and  all  traces  of  its  mouth  were 
hidden  by  rocks  and  ddbris. 

The  priests  would  not  now  permit  the  name  of 
Akhnaton  to  pass  a  man's  lips,  and  by  the  end 
of  the  reign  of  Horemheb,  the  unfortunate  boy 
was  spoken  of  in  official  documents  as  “  that 
criminal.”  Not  forty  years  had  passed  since 
Akhnaton's  death,  yet  the  priesthood  of  Amon 
was  as  powerful  as  it  had  ever  been  at  any 
period  of  its  existence.  There  were  still  living 
men  who  had  been  old  enough  at  the  time  of 
the  Aton  power  to  grasp  its  doctrines ;  and 
those  same  eyes  which  had  looked  upon  the  fair 
City  of  the  Horizon  might  now  disturb  the 
creatures  of  the  desert  in  the  ruined  courts  where 
the  grave  boy-Pharaoh  had  presided  so  lately. 
These  man  joined  their  voices  to  that  crowd 
of  priests  who,  not  daring  to  allow  the  word 
Akhnaton  to  form  itself  upon  their  lips,  poured 
curses  upon  the  excommunicated  and  nameless 
“  criminal.”  Through  starry  space  their  execra¬ 
tions  passed,  searching  out  the  wretched  ghost 
of  the  boy,  and  banning  him,  as  they  supposed, 
even  in  the  dim  uncertainties  of  the  Lands 
of  Death.  Over  the  hills  of  the  west,  up  the 
stairs  of  the  moon,  and  down  into  the  caverns 


THE  FINDING  OF  THE  BODY  OF  AKHNATON 


245 


under  the  world,  the  poor  twittering  shadow 
was  hunted  and  chased  by  the  relentless  magic 
of  the  men  whom  he  had  tried  to  reform.  There 
was  no  place  for  his  memory  upon  earth,  and  in 
the  under-world  the  priests  denied  him  a  stone 
upon  which  to  lay  his  head.  It  is  not  easy 
now  to  realise  the  full  meaning  to  the  Egyptian 
of  the  excommunication  of  a  soul :  cut  off  from 
the  comforts  of  human  prayers  ;  hungry,  forlorn, 
and  wholly  desolate ;  forced  at  last  to  whine 
upon  the  outskirts  of  villages,  to  snivel  upon 
the  dung-heaps,  to  rake  with  shadowy  fingers 
amidst  the  refuse  of  mean  streets  for  fragments 
of  decayed  food  with  which  to  allay  the  pangs 
of  hunger  caused  by  the  absence  of  funeral- 
offerings.  To  such  a  pitiful  fate  the  priests  of 
Amon  consigned  “  the  first  individual  in  history  ”  ; 
and  as  an  outcast  amongst  outcasts,  a  whimpering 
shadow  in  a  place  of  shadows,  the  men  of  Thebes 
bade  us  leave  the  great  idealist,  doomed,  as  they 
supposed,  to  the  horrors  of  a  life  which  will 
not  end,  to  the  misery  of  a  death  that  brings 
no  oblivion. 

5.  THE  FINDING  OF  THE  BODY  OF  AKHNATON 

Thus,  sheathed  in  gold,  the  nameless  body 
lay,  while  the  fortunes  of  Egypt  rose  and  fell 
and  the  centuries  slid  by.  A  greater  teacher 
than  Akhnaton  arose  and  preached  that  peace 


246 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


which  the  Pharaoh  had  foreshadowed,  and  soon 
ail  Egypt  rang  with  the  new  gospel.  Then 
came  the  religion  of  Mohammed,  and  the  days 
of  the  sword  returned.  So  the  years  passed, 
and  many  a  wise  man  lived  his  life  and  dis¬ 
appeared  ;  but  the  first  of  the  wise  men  of 
history  lay  undiscovered  in  the  heart  of  the 
Theban  hills. 

Now  it  happened  that  there  was  a  fissure  in 
the  rocks  in  which  the  sepulchre  was  cut,  and 
during  the  rains  of  each  season  a  certain  amount 
of  moisture  managed  to  penetrate  into  the 
chamber.  This  gradually  rotted  the  legs  of  the 
bier  upon  which  Akhnaton  s  body  lay,  and  at 
last  there  came  a  time  when  the  two  legs  at  the 
head  of  the  coffin  gave  way  and  precipitated 
the  royal  body  on  to  the  ground.  The  bandages 
around  the  mummy  had  already  fallen  almost 
to  powder,  and  this  jerk  sent  the  golden  vulture 
which  was  resting  upon  the  king’s  face  or  breast 
on  to  his  forehead,  where  it  lay  with  the  tail 
and  claws  resting  over  the  left  eye-socket  of 
the  skull.  Presently  the  two  remaining  legs  of 
the  bier  collapsed,  and  the  whole  coffin  fell  to 
the  ground,  the  lid  being  partly  jerked  off,  thus 
revealing  the  king's  head  at  one  end  and  his 
feet  at  the  other,  from  all  of  which  the  flesh 
had  rotted  away. 

In  January,  1907,  the  excavations  in  the 


THE  FINDING  OF  THE  BODY  OF  AKHNATON 


247 


Valley  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  which  were 
being  conducted  by  Mr.  Theodore  Davis,  of 
Newport,  Rhode  Island,  U.S.A.,  and  supervised 
by  the  present  writer,  on  behalf  of  the  Egyptian 
Government,  brought  to  light  the  doorway  of 
the  tomb,  and  it  was  not  long  before  an  entrance 
was  effected.  A  rough  stairway  led  down  into 
the  hillside,  bringing  the  excavators  to  the 
mouth  of  the  passage,  which  was  entirely  blocked 
by  the  wall  which  the  priests  had  built  after 
they  had  entered  the  tomb  to  erase  Akhnaton’s 
name.  Beyond  this  wall  the  passage  was  found 
to  be  nearly  choked  with  the  debris  of  the  three 
earlier  walls,  the  first  oi  which  had  been  built 
after  Queen  Tiy  had  been  buried  here,  the  second 
after  Akhnaton’s  agents  had  entered  the  tomb 
to  erase  the  name  of  Amon,  and  the  third  after 
Akhnaton’s  body  had  been  laid  beside  that  of 
his  mother.  On  top  of  this  heap  of  stones  lay 
the  side  of  the  funeral  shrine  of  the  queen  which 
the  priests  had  abandoned  after  attempting  to 
carry  it  out  with  her  mummy.  In  the  burial- 

chamber  beyond,  the  remaining  portions  of  this 

* 

shrine  were  found.  Upon  these  one  saw  the 
figures  of  Akhnaton  and  his  mother  worshipping 
beneath  the  rays  of  the  Aton.  The  inscriptions 
showed  the  erasure  of  the  name  of  Amenophis 
III,  and  the  substitution  in  red  ink  of  that  king’s 
second  name,  Nebmaara ;  and  one  observed 


248 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


that  at  a  later  date  the  name  and  figures  of 
Akhnaton  had  been  hammered  out. 

At  one  side  lay  the  coffin  of  Akhnaton,  as  it 
had  fallen  from  the  bier.  The  name  of  Akhnaton 
upon  the  coffin  had  been  erased,  but  was  still 
readable  ;  and  the  gold  ribbons  from  which  his 
name  had  been  cut  out  still  encircled  the  body, 
back  and  front.  The  golden  vulture  lay  as  has 
been  described  above,  and  the  necklace  still 
rested  on  the  breast,  while  the  whole  decaying 
body  was  found  to  be  wrapped  in  sheets  of  gold. 
In  a  recess  above  this  coffin  stood  the  canopic 
jars,  and  in  another  part  of  the  tomb  Queen 
Tiy’s  toilet  utensils  were  found,  from  one  of 
which  the  name  of  Amenophis  III  had  been 
erased. 

The  coffin  was  found  to  be  in  a  state  of  decay 
which  necessitated  the  utmost  care  in  its 
handling  ;  and  it  was  many  months  before  it 
was  pieced  together  and  placed  on  exhibition  in 
the  Cairo  Museum.  The  inscription  engraved  on 
the  gold  foil  beneath  the  feet1  was  now  able  to 
be  seen,  and  this  proved  to  be  a  short  prayer 
addressed  by  the  king  to  his  God,  which  one 
is  justified  in  supposing  to  have  been  composed 
by  Akhnaton  himself  as  a  kind  of  epitaph,  for 
it  shows  signs  of  having  been  wrilten  upon  the 
coffin  later  than  the  main  inscription.  The 

i  Page  232. 


Golden  Vulture  found  upon  Akhnaton’s  Mummy 

( See  page  229 ) 


The  Skull  of  Akhnaton 
(See  Page  249) 


* 


- 


* 


■ 


■ 

. 


. 


■ 


THE  FINDING  OF  THE  BODY  OF  AKHNATON 


249 


translation,  made  by  Dr.  Alan  Gardiner,  is  here 
published  for  the  first  time. 

It  reads : — “I  breathe  the  sweet  breath  which 
comes  forth  from  Thy  mouth.  I  behold  Thy  beauty 
every  day.  It  is  my  desire  that  I  may  hear  Thy 
sweet  voice,  even  the  north  wind,  that  my  limbs  may 
be  rejuvenated  with  life  through  love  of  Thee.  Give 
me  Thy  hands,  holding  Thy  spirit,  that  I  may  receive 
it  and  may  live  by  it.  Call  Thou  upon  my  name 
unto  eternity,  and  it  shall  never  fail.” 

There  is  no  need  to  call  the  reader's  attention 
to  the  great  pathos  of  these  words  addressed 
by  the  young  king  to  the  god  for  whom  he  had 
lost  all.  It  is  eviaent  from  them  that  in  the  end, 
when  the  disasters  fell  upon  him  from  all  sides, 
his  faith  remained  unshaken,  and  that,  though 
the  death  of  the  body  was  nigh,  he  still  believed 
in  an  endless  life  of  the  spirit  in  which  he  would 
be  able  throughout  all  eternity  to  serve  his 
Creator  with  a  love  and  loyalty  which  would 
never  fail. 

The  mummy,  which  had  so  fallen  to  pieces 
that  only  the  bones  remained  intact,  was  sent 
to  the  Cairo  Museum  by  the  writer,  to  be  ex¬ 
amined  by  Professor  Elliot  Smith,  who  reported 
that  they  were  those  of  a  man  of  not  more  than 
thirty  years  of  age,  that  is  to  say  the  age  at 
which  Akhnaton  has  been  shown  in  these  pages 
to  have  died.  The  misshapen  skull  was  pro¬ 
nounced  to  be  that  of  a  man  who  suffered  from 


250 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


epileptic  fits  and  who  was  probably  subject  to 
hallucinations.  Curiously  enough  the  pecu¬ 
liarities  of  the  skull  are  precisely  those  which 
Lombroso  has  stated  to  be  usual  in  a  religious 
reformer. 

6.  CONCLUSION 

Thus,  the  body  of  this  the  most  remarkable 
figure  of  early  Oriental  history  was  brought  to 
light ;  and  here  we  may  close  this  sketch  of  his 
life,  which  has  been  written  for  the  purpose  of 
introducing  the  general  reader  to  one  of  the  most 
interesting  characters  ever  known.  In  this 
brief  outline  it  has  only  been  possible  to  touch 
upon  the  main  characteristics  which  the  few 
remaining  inscriptions  and  monuments  seem  to 
reveal ;  but  to  the  most  casual  reader  it  will 
be  apparent  that  there  stands  before  him  a 
personality  of  surprising  vigour  and  amazing 
originality,  and  one  deserving  of  careful  study. 
In  an  age  of  superstition,  and  in  a  land  where 
the  grossest  polytheism  reigned  absolutely 
supreme,  Akhnaton  evolved  a  monotheistic  re¬ 
ligion  second  only  to  Christianity  itself  in  purity 
of  tone.  He  was  the  first  human  being  to  under¬ 
stand  rightly  the  meaning  of  divinity.  When 
the  world  reverberated  with  the  noise  of  war, 
he  preached  the  first  known  doctrine  of  peace ; 
when  the  glory  of  martial  pomp  swelled  the 


CONCLUSION 


251 


hearts  of  his  subjects  he  deliberately  turned  his 
back  upon  heroics.  He  was  the  first  man  to 
preach  simplicity,  honesty,  frankness,  and  sin¬ 
cerity  ;  and  he  preached  it  from  a  throne.  He 
was  the  first  Pharaoh  to  be  a  humanitarian  ; 
the  first  man  in  whose  heart  there  was  no  trace 
of  barbarism.  He  has  given  us  an  example  three 
thousand  years  ago  which  might  be  followed 
at  the  present  day  :  an  example  of  what  a  hus¬ 
band  and  a  father  should  be,  of  w7hat  an  honest 
man  should  do,  of  what  a  poet  should  feel,  of 
what  a  preacher  should  teach,  of  w'hat  an  artist 
should  strive  for,  of  what  a  scientist  should 
believe,  of  wrhat  a  philosopher  should  think. 
Like  other  great  teachers  he  sacrificed  all  to 
his  principles,  and  thus  his  life  plainly  show's — 
alas  ! — the  impracticability  of  his  doctrines  ;  yet 
there  can  be  no  question  that  his  ideals  will 
hold  good  “  till  the  swan  turns  black  and  the 
crow  turns  white,  till  the  hills  rise  up  to  travel, 
and  the  deeps  rush  into  the  rivers.’ * 

It  may  be  expected  that  the  excavations  of 
the  Egypt  Exploration  Society  which  are  now 
being  conducted  on  the  site  of  Akhnaton’s  city 
will  throw  a  great  flood  of  light  upon  this  amaz¬ 
ing  epoch  of  history ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
those  whose  interest  in  this  ancient  tragedy — 
for  tragedy  it  is — has  been  aroused  by  these 
pages  will  give  some  sort  of  financial  support. 


252 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  AKHNATON 


however  small,  to  the  work,  so  that  some  day 
the  tale  may  be  told  with  greater  accuracy  and 
in  fuller  detail  than  in  the  foregoing  pages. 


TNE  END. 


253 


INDEX 


Ahmose  I.,  6 

Abdkhiba,  governor  of  Jerusalem,  appeal 
of,  to  Akhnaton  for  help,  208 

Adonis,  connection  of,  with  Aton,  12,  32, 
118  et  seq. 

Akhnaton,  personality  of,  2 — ancestors  of, 
5  et  seq. — birth  of,  36  et  seq. — change  of 
name  from  Amenophis  to,  38  note,  80 
—•marriage  of,  48— accession  of,  50  et 
seq. — first  years  of  the  reign  of,  53 — 
new  city  founded  by,  77  et  seq. — site 
of  the  city  selected  by,  80  et  seq. — 
foundation  ceremonies  performed,  by,  82 
et  seq. — departure  of,  from  Thebes,  90 
et  seq. — age  of,  94  et  seq. — religion  of  Aton 
formulated  by,  99  et  seq.  —  tenth  to 
twelfth  years  of  the  reign  of,  129  et  seq. — 
similarity  of  the  hymn  of,  to  Psalm  civ., 
134  et  seq. — representations  of,  in  his 
palace,  145  et  seq. — historical  events  of 
tenth  to  twelfth  years  of  the  reign  of,  147 
et  seq. — thirteenth  to  fifteenth  years  of 
the  reign  of,  164  et  seq. — name  of  Amon 
obliterated  by,  168  et  seq. — affection  of, 
for  his  family,  185  et  seq. — friends  of,  188 
et  seq. — troubles  of,  192  et  seq. — last  two 
years  of  the  reign  of,  197  it  seq. — con¬ 
scientious  objections  of,  to  warfare,  200 
et  seq. — health  of,  gives  way,  217  et  seq. — 
last  days  and  death  of,  222 — fall  of  the 
religion  of,  228  et  seq. — burial  of,  228 — 
body  of,  brought  to  Thebes  237 — per¬ 
secution  of  the  memory  of,  241  et  seq. — 
finding  of  the  body  of,  245  et  seq. — ideals 
of,  250 

Amon  or  Amon-Ra,  worship  of,  9  —  priest¬ 
hood  of,  16,  38  et  seq.,  68— -break  with  the 
priesthood  of,  77 et  seq. — Akhnaton  obliter¬ 
ates  the  name  of,  168  et  seq. — restoration 
of  the  worship  of,  241  et  seq. 

Amenophis  I.,  6 

Amenophis  II.,  8 

Amenophis  III.,  "  the  Magnificent,”  9,  10, 
24,  28  et  seq.,  42,  46 — death  of,  49,  95 — 
second  name  of,  162,  179 

Amenophis  IV  :  see  Akhnaton. 

Amenophis-son-of-Hapu,  the  “  wise  man,” 
28 

Animal  worship,  15  et  seq. 

Ankbsenpaaton,  third  daughter  of  Akhnaton, 
birth  of,  94— marriage  of,  96,  234 


Apis,  the  sacred  bull,  worship  of,  13,  76 
Apiy,  letter  to  Akhnaton  from,  74 
Art,  the  new  style  of,  58  et  seq.,  87 
Aswan,  commemoration  tablet  at,  92  — 
statue  of  Amenophis  III.  at,  ib. 

Aton,  the  name,  32,  80  and  note — rise  of, 
38  et  seq. — development  of  the  religion  of, 
67  et  seq. — nature  of  the  religion  of,  73  et 
seq. — founding  of  new  city  for  the  worship 
of,  77  et  seq. — religion  of,  formulated,  99 
et  seq. — connections  of  the  worship  of, 
with  older  religions,  117  et  seq. — hymns 
of  the  worshippers  of,  129  et  seq. — Meryra 
made  high  priest  of,  138  et  seq. — develop¬ 
ment  of  the  religion  of,  164  et  seq. — great 
temple  of,  172  et  seq. — City  of  the  Horizon 
of,  175  et  seq. — downfall  of  the  religion  of, 
234  et  seq. 

Auta,  Queen  Tiy’s  chief  sculptor,  66,  180 
Ay,  father  of  Queen  Nefertiti,  48,  94 — 
palace  of,  177 — accession  of,  to  the  throne, 
238— death  of,  ib. 

Aziru,  the  Amorite  prince,  unscrupulous 
dealings  of,  200,  203  et  seq. 

Baketaton,  sister  of  Akhnaton,  154,  188 
Bek,  art  taught  to,  by  Akhnaton,  66 — 
sculptures  of,  at  Aswan,  92,  170 

Canopic  jars,  the,  in  Akhnaton’s  tomb,  232 
248 

Child-marriages,  frequency  of,  in  Egypt,  96 
Christianity,  comparison  of  Akhnaton’s 
faith  with,  124  et  seq. 

**  City  of  the  Brightness  of  Aton,”  new  name 
of,  given  to  Thebes,  56 
City  of  the  Horizon  of  Aton,  founding  of, 
79,  et  seq. — Akhnaton’s  residence  at,  92 
— gardens  of,  109 — inscriptions  on  the 
sepulchres  at,  129  et  seq. — Queen  Tiy's 
visit  to,  153  et  seq. — Queen  Tiy’s  residence 
and  death  at,  160  et  seq. — shrines  and 
temples  in,  170  et  seq. — beauty  of,  175 
et  seq. — abandonment  of,  by  the  court, 
233 — removal  of  Akhnaton’s  body  from, 
237 — desolate  condition  of,  244 

Delta,  ”  House  of  Aton  in  the,  166 
Demigods  and  spirits,  worship  of,  15  et  seq. 
Domestic  life  of  Akhnaton,  reliefs  and 
paintings  on  tombs  showing  the,  145  et 
seq. 


254 


INDEX 


Dushratla,  King  of  Mitanni,  marriage  of 
Nefertiti,  daughter  of,  to  Prince  Amen¬ 
ophis  (Akhnaton),  48 — marriage  of  Nesem- 
nmt,  daughter  of,  to  Horemheb,  239 

“  Effulgence  which  comes  from  Aton,” 
name  of  A  ton  changed  to,  16? 

Exodus,  Tradition  of,  29 

Fav urn,  “  House  ”  of  Aton  in  the,  166 

Gebel  Silsiieh,  tablets  at  the  quarries  of, 
54 — the  name  Amenophis  erased  at,  169 
Gods  oi  Egypt,  the,  8  et  seq. — Akhnaton 
orders  the  erasure  of  the  names  of,  in 
inscriptions,  219 
Goodness  of  A  ton,  the,  109  et  seq. 

Hathor,  worship  of,  13 
Hatshepsut,  Queen,  6 
Heliopoiis,  temple  of  Aton  at,  166 
Heimonthis,  temple  of  Aton  at,'  166 
Hermopolis,  temple  of  Aton  at,  166 
Hittite  invasion  of  Syria,  the,  197  et  seq. 
Horakhd  Aton,  erection  of  temple  at  Karnak 
to,  54.  58,  78—restoratioti  of  the  temple 
to,  23? — destruction  of  the  temple  to,  241 
Horemheb,  tomb  of,  57  and  note,  58,  73,  75, 
235  note — presence  of,  with  the  troops 
in  Asia,  235 — accession  of,  to  the  throne, 
238 — marriage  of.  239 — reign  of,  240  et 
seq. 

Horns,  the  hawk  god,  worship  of,  12,  13 
Huy  a,  scenes  sculptured  on  the  tomb  of,  143 
et  seq.,  154,  180 

Isis,  worship  of,  12 

Jubilee  of  Akhnaton,  217 

Karnak,  temple  to  Horakhti  Aton  at,  53 
et  seq..  58,  78 — temples  and  shrine  at,  54, 
73-— restoration  of  the  Aton  temple  at, 
237 — destruction  of  the  Aton  temple  at, 
241 

Khnum,  the  ram -headed  deity,  worship  of, 
13 

Khonsu,  the  god  of  the  moon,  worship  of, 

U 

Kirgipa  or  Gil  uk  hi  pa,  wife  of  Amenophis  III., 
34,  44,  47 

*'  Lord  of  the  Breath  of  Sweetness,*’  Akhna- 
ton’s  name  of,  52 

Mahu,  scenes  on  the  tomb  of,  190  et  seq. 
Meketaton,  second  daughter  of  Akhnaton, 
bfrtb  of,  67 — death  of,  194 
Memphis,  temple  of  Aton  at,  166 
Meryra,  appointment  of,  as  high  priest  of 
Aton,  138  et  seq. — scenes  sculptured  on 
the  tomb  of,  138  et  seq.,  176 
Merytaton,  first  daughter  of  Akhnaton, 
birth  of,  72 — marriage  of,  96,  187,  223 
Min  or  Min-Ra,  worship  of,  10,  23 
Mnevis,  toe  sacred  bull,  worship  of,  117 
Mut,  the  consort  of  Araon,  worship  of,  11, 
162,  230 

Mutemua,  wife  of  Thutmoses  IV.,  19  et  seq., 


Nebmaara,  second  name  of  Amonhotep  III., 
162,  169,  247 

N ef er neferua ton ,  fourth  daughter  of  Akh¬ 
naton,  birth  of,  96,  147 — marriage  of,  96, 
187 

Nefemeferura,  fifth  daughter  of  Akhnaton, 
birth  of,  185 

Nefertiti,  marriage  of  Prince  Amenophis 
(Akhnaton)  to,  49 — ’birth  of  the  first 
daughter  of,  72 — second  daughter  of,  87, 
91 — third  daughter  of,  94  —  fourth 
daughter  of,  96,  147 — fifth  daughter  of, 
185 — sixth  and  seventh  daughters  of,  185 

Nezemmut,  sister  of  Queen  Nefertiti,  94, 
188 — marriage  of,  to  Horemheb,  King  of 
Egypt,  239 

Nubia,  imperial  regard  of  Akhnaton  for,  164 
et  seq. — temple  of  Aton  in,  166 

Osiris,  god  of  the  dead,  worship  of,  16 

Palace  of  Akhnaton,  description  of  the,  178 
et  sea. 

Psalm  civ.,  similarity  of  Akhnaton's  hymn 
to,  134  ei  seq 

Ptah,  the  Vulcan  of  Egypt,  vrorsbi©  of,  13, 
17,  74 

Precinct  of  Aton,  181 

Ra  or  Ra-Horakhti,  the  sun-god,  worship 
of.  9,  1 1,  17,  39  et  seq.,  44,  50,  51,  55,  60, 
75,  30 

Ramose.  Vizir  of  Upper  Egypt,  tomb  of,  57, 

59,  70,73,  112 

Ribaddi,  King  of  Byblos,  appeals  of,  to 
Akhnaton  for  help,  207,  210,  213 — death 
of,  216 

Set,  the  worship  of,  13 

Setepenra,  sixth  daughter  of  Akhnaton 
birth  of,  185 

“  Shade  of  the  Sun,**  the.  Queen  Tiy’s 
private  temple  called,  158  et  seq. — statues 
m,  158,  170 

Smenkbkara,  Akhnaton’s  successor  to  the 
throne.  187,  223 — marriage  of,  223— 
association  of,  with  Akhnaton,  as  co¬ 
ruler,  id. — accession  of,  as  sole  ruler,  228 
—death  of,  234 

"  Son  of  God,”  Akhnaton  the,  by  tradi¬ 
tional  right,  1 12  et  seq. 

“  Son  of  the  Sun,”  the  title  of,  held  by  the 
Pharaohs,  11,  61,  65,  114,  171 

Soul,  spiritual  needs  of  the,  after  death,  120 
et  seq. — material  needs  of  the,  124  et  seq. — 
the  excommunication  of  a,  245 

Sunrise  and  sunset,  worship  of  Aton  at,  106 
et  seq. 

Syria,  imperial  regard  of  Akhnaton  for,  164 
et  seq. — -temple  of  Aton  in,  166— Hittite 
invasion  of  197  et  seq.  Akhnaton’s 
policy  in,  200  et  seq. — the  fighting  in, 
becomes  general,  207  et  seq. 

Tadukhipa,  48 

Tel  el  Amama  letters,  197 

Temple  of  Aton,  description  of  the  great, 

1 72  et  seq. 

Tender  Father  of  all  Creation,  Aton  as  the, 
101  et  seq. 

Thebes,  discoveries  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Tombs  of  the  Kings  near,  4,  247  et  seq.— 


Nakht,  house  of,  183 


INDEX 


255 


booty  brought  by  Thutmosis  III.  to,  6— 
the  deities  of,  9  et  seq. — the  court  at,  30 — 
the  royal  palace  at — <31 ,  37  et  seq.  —new 
name  of  “  City  of  the  Brightness  of  Aton  ” 
given  to,  56 — departure  of  the  court  from, 
90  et  sea.— Queen  Tiy’s  continued  resi¬ 
dence  at.  153 — Queen  Tiy’s  tomb  at.  161 
— return  of  the  court  to,  233  et  seq. — body 
of  Akhnaton  brought  to  237  finding 
of  Akhnaton's  body  at,  245  et  seq. 
Thutmose,  sculptor,  180 
Thutmosis  I.,  6 
Thutmosis  II.,  6 
Thutmosis  III.,  6  et  seq. 

Thutmosis  IV.,  8  et  seq..  10.  17  et  seq.,  95 
Tiy,  Queen,  birth  and  childhood  of,  22 — 
marriage  of,  25  et  seq.,  96 — children  of, 
34.  37.  46 — death  of  the  parents  of,  35 — 
birth  of  Amenophis  or  Akhnaton,  son  of, 
36  et  seq. — the  power  of,  42  ef  seq. — death 
of  the  consort  of,  49 — visit  of,  to  the  City 
of  the  Horizon,  153  et  seq. — visit  of,  to 
her  temple,  158  et  seq. — death  of,  160 — 
tomb  of,  161  et  seq. — Akhnaton’s  body 
placed  in  the  tomb  of,  237 — body  of, 
removed,  243 

Tribal  gods,  names  of,  9  et  seq. 

True  God,  Aton  as  the,  99  et  seq. 


Tuau,  wife  of  Yuaa,  Priest  of  the  god  Min, 
22  et  seq.,  26,  27— death  and  burial  of,  35 

Tunip,  letter  to  Akhnaton  from  the  governor 

of,  205 

Tutankhaton,  the  throne  usurped  by,  187, 
222,  234 — marriage  of,  234 — name  of, 
changed  to  Tutankhamen,  235 — return 
of,  to  Thebes,  tb. — death  of,  237 

Ty,  stepmother  of  Queen  Nefertiti,  48,  94 

Valley  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  Thebes, 
the,  discoveries  in,  4,  247  et  seq. — burial  of 
Yuaa  and  Tuau  in,  35 

Vulture,  representation  of  a,  used  in  burials, 
162,  229  et  seq.,  248 

Wady  Hammamat,  inscriptions  near  the 
quarries  of,  67,  97 

Warfare,  Akhnaton’s  conscientious  scruples 
to,  200  et  seq. 

Worship  of  Aton  at  sunrise  and  sunset,  106 
et  seq. 

Yuaa,  Priest  of  the  god  Min,  birth  of,  20 — 
marriage  of  Tiy.  the  daughter  of,  to 
Amenophis  III.,  25— personality  of,  27 — 
death  and  buriaj  of,  35 


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The  life  and  times  of  Akhnaton,  pharaoh 


